Rockstar to buy former L.A. Noire director’s Video Games Deluxe studio after ‘many years’ of close collaboration

Developers from the American Rockstar Games (GTA series, Red Dead Redemption), owned by Take-Two Interactive, announced in a new press release the acquisition of the Australian studio Video Games Deluxe.

Image source: Steam (Kitsuragi)

Recall that Video Games Deluxe was founded in 2013 by the head of development and screenwriter of the detective action game L.A. Noire, Brendan McNamara, after the closure of his previous studio, Team Bondi, in 2011.

In 2017, the studio ported L.A. Noire to new platforms and released L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, and subsequently developed mobile versions of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition, and has been supporting the collection since 2024.

Image source: Steam

As a result of the acquisition, Video Games Deluxe will be renamed Rockstar Australia. Rockstar Games said it decided to buy the studio after “many years” of close collaboration.

«It has been an honor to work closely with Rockstar Games over the last ten years. We are excited to be a part of Rockstar Games and will continue to strive to create the best games possible,” McNamara said.

Image source: Gematsu

What exactly Video Games Deluxe (or rather Rockstar Australia) will do now is currently unclear. In 2020, it was reported that the studio was developing a big-budget (AAA) open-world VR game for Rockstar Games.

Meanwhile, Rockstar is preparing a major update for the PC version of GTA V for release tomorrow and continues production on GTA VI, which is expected to launch this fall on PS5, Xbox Series X and S.