Video Games Deluxe Acquired By Rockstar Games & Renamed Rockstar Australia

Video Games Deluxe, an Australian game developer, has now become part of Rockstar Games under its brand-new name, Rockstar Australia. 

Video Games Deluxe was founded by Brendan McNamara in 2013 to focus exclusively on Rockstar titles. Before creating the studio, Brendan McNamara founded Team Bondi, the action-adventure game L.A. Noire's developer, in 2003, which was defunct in 2011 due to several accusations of poor working conditions.

During the more than a decade of time since the establish of Video Games Deluxe, the two companies have worked together on a few games, such as L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, which was released in 2017, and the acquired studio also helped "upgrades" to the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, the remaster of GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas, which was launched to huge player complaints due to defects. 

This close partnership has laid a solid foundation for this acquisition, as Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar Games Head of Publishing, said, "After working together closely over many years, we are excited to have Video Games Deluxe join the team as Rockstar Australia." Brendan McNamara also took it as an honor to work with Rockstar Games in the past decade and has a high hope for the future: "We are thrilled to be a part of Rockstar Games and to continue our efforts to make the best games possible."

Besides announcing the acquisition, the official statement issued on Business Wire about this deal also mentioned that the Grand Theft Auto series has sold more than 440 million units globally, making it undoubtedly "one of the most successful entertainment properties of all time." Although the community's attention has been centered around Grand Theft Auto 6, unfortunately, there is no specific information about it in this announcement.

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