Rockstar Games has acquired the studio that worked on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas VR.
Announced today via Business Wire, Rockstar Games confirmed its acquisition of the Sydney-based studio Video Games Deluxe. Stating the team will be renamed to Rockstar Australia, the studio's previously released work includes the 2017 re-release of L.A. Noire and L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, alongside updates to Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.
While this isn't mentioned in the press release, likely due to being unreleased, Video Games Deluxe was also the studio working on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas VR port for Quest. While July 2020 saw Video Games Deluxe reveal it was working on an 'AAA open world' VR game, news emerged shortly after San Andreas VR's reveal that the studio was behind the adaptation.
Jamie Feltham
Initially announced back in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg revealed the news during that year's Connect conference, though a lengthy silence followed that announcement. Though Rockstar's adaptation has not officially been cancelled, last August Meta confirmed that the VR version is “on hold indefinitely while we both focus on other projects.”
Whether we can expect to see Rockstar Games returning to VR anytime soon isn't clear, though evidence suggests the studio's at least been looking into it. Back in 2023, actor Michael Ursu listed an “Undisclosed Rockstar Game” under the VR section of his resume. However, that was swiftly deleted once the entry was publicly spotted.
Henry Stockdale
