Rockstar Games have announced their acquisition of game development studio Video Games Deluxe for an undisclosed fee. In a press release shared on Tuesday, Rockstar Games stated they were “proud” to acquire Sydney-based Video Games Deluxe.
This latest member of the Rockstar Games family will be renamed Rockstar Australia. Renaming of a studio with its location has always happened under Rockstar. A recent example was the purchase of motion capture specialists Standard Deviation. We reported how they became Rockstar LA.
Founded by L.A. Noire developers, Video Games Deluxe is best known for their work with Rockstar on a number of ported titles. These include the re-release of L.A. Noire plus its The VR Case Files and the recent improvements made to the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition. Their work on the mobile and newly patched console and PC versions have been highly regarded after a previous studio’s attempt caused major controversy.
Back in July last year, Video Games Deluxe said they were “working exclusively on projects for Rockstar” after a musician shared unreleased music for cut content from the detective game. Since then they went onto patch the GTA Trilogy for PC and consoles though nothing else has been revealed.
Statements From Both Parties
Rockstar Games’ Head of Publishing Jennifer Kolbe said in the press release “After working together closely over many years, we are excited to have Video Games Deluxe join the team as Rockstar Australia. Rockstar Games’ relationship with the Video Games Deluxe team began with founder Brendan McNamara’s former studio, Team Bondi, and the creation of the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking detective thriller, L.A. Noire.”
Meanwhile Video Games Deluxe founder Brendan McNamara who also founded L.A. Noire studio Team Bondi had this to say: “It’s been an honor to work closely with Rockstar Games this past decade. We are thrilled to be a part of Rockstar Games and to continue our efforts to make the best games possible.”
It will be interesting to see what Video Games Deluxe, now Rockstar Australia, work on next. Could we see more titles being ported to new platforms? We’ll just have to wait and see. There’s also a chance they will assist with GTA 6’s development much like all of Rockstar’s internal studios are already.
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