The Grand Theft Auto series has now sold over 440 million copies, and say g'day to Rockstar Australia

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The studio will be renamed Rockstar Australia.

GTA 5 money
(Image credit: Rockstar)

Rockstar Games has announced the acquisition of Video Games Deluxe, a studio based in Sydney that it's been working with for some time. The personal relationships involved go back even further: Video Games Deluxe was founded by Brendan McNamara, who led Team Bondi in the creation of LA Noire before allegations about poor working conditions saw it and Rockstar part ways.

Team Bondi was liquidated in 2011, with McNamara and many key staff moving to the Australian production house Kennedy Miller Mitchell to work on the ill-fated (and cancelled) title Whore of the Orient. Ever the busy bee, McNamara also founded Video Games Deluxe in 2013, since when it has exclusively worked on Rockstar projects: The studio's collaborations with Rockstar include the 2017 re-release of LA Noire and LA Noire: The VR Case Files. It also did the heavy lifting on Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy–The Definitive Edition after it launched in a bit of a state, and got that title up to scratch.

The press release comes with the usual from Rockstar, which is to say the most banal quotes imaginable. "After working together closely over many years, we are excited to have Video Games Deluxe join the team as Rockstar Australia," said Rockstar's Jennifer Kolbe. Not to be outdone, here comes big bad Brendan: "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."

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Rich Stanton
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

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