GTA 6 creators acquire studio led by L.A. Noire director, rebrand it as Rockstar Australia.

GTA 6 developers Rockstar Games have announced the acquisition of Video Games Deluxe, the Sydney-based team who collaborated with them on the 2017 re-release of L.A. Noire, virtual reality spin-off L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files and, most recently, post-launch updates for Grove Street’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. The studio will now be known as (drum roll please) Rockstar Australia.

Video Game Deluxe were founded by Brendan McNamara in 2013. You might remember McNamara as the founder of original L.A. Noire developer, Team Bondi. Team Bondi had an outsized reputation for long hours, tyrannical management and high turnover, as explored in an IGN report from 2011 based on anonymous developer interviews, which led to an investigation from the International Game Developers Association. The studio went into administration later that year, after Rockstar announced they would not publish their next title.

McNamara and other former L.A. Noire developers subsequently got together to make a spiritual successor, Whore Of The Orient, at new studio KMM Interactive Entertainment, but the project and studio were eventually shuttered after publishing partner Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment pulled funding.

I’m not aware of any reporting about what it’s like to work at Video Game Deluxe, who have done good work over the years. They’re the outfit credited with “saving” Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, a technical disaster of such magnitude that Rockstar felt moved to hand out free games as compensation.

It’s likely that the newly rebranded Rockstar Australia will be pitching in with Grand Theft Auto 6 development – Rockstar’s latest is due for release on console later this year, with a PC release date forthcoming. “It’s been an honour to work closely with Rockstar Games this past decade,” McNamara said in a statement regarding today’s announcement. “We are thrilled to be a part of Rockstar Games and to continue our efforts to make the best games possible.”