LA Noire director returns to Rockstar ahead of GTA 6, as studio buys GTA Trilogy: Definitive Edition developer and renames it Rockstar Australia

Rockstar Games has made an an acquisition ahead of GTA 6, bringing Sydney-based developer Video Games Deluxe – which it worked with on The GTA Trilogy: Definitive Edition – into the fold and renaming it Rockstar Australia.

The move brings LA Noire director Brendan McNamara back to Rockstar, with the developer having founded Video Games Deluxe after departing now-defunct LA Noire studio Team Bondi.

“After working together closely over many years, we are excited to have Video Games Deluxe join the team as Rockstar Australia,” Rockstar Games’ head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe said in a release on the acquisition published by BusinessWire.

Video Games Deluxe and Rockstar have collabed on the likes of LA Noire’s re-release, its VR Case Files, and most recently on an update to the GTA Trilogy: Definitive Edition. This was the update that followed the latter’s original version being criticised for its poor quality, something which a different studio – Grove Street Games – has taken the brunt of ther flack for, with the update having prompted GSG’s CEO to suggest it scrubbing some mentions of Grove Street Games from the game was a “dick move”.

As noted, acquiring Video Games Deluxe also brings LA Noire director Brendan McNamara, who also founded that game’s developer Team Bondi, back to Rockstar. Team Bondi shut its doors back in 2011, having faced allegations of bad working conditions and crunch culture, something McNamara responded to at the time.

“It’s been an honor to work closely with Rockstar Games this past decade,” McNamara said in the release about Video Games Deluxe becoming Rockstar Australia, “We are thrilled to be a part of Rockstar Games and to continue our efforts to make the best games possible.”

We’ll likely not know for sure whether Rockstar Australia will be lending a hand on GTA 6’s development until the game’s out, but it seems like a setup that’d potentially make sense, given the game’s bearing down its currently pencilled in Fall release window.

That’s for the game’s console release – Rockstar’s yet to give word on a PC release window, despite some recent and quickly walked-back comments from an exec at the company behind some hardcore gamer mood lighting.