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.
