Rockstar: ‘Don’t count out’ another L.A. Noire game

The years-long L.A. Noire saga had a sad ending last year, but fans of the game may yet have a reason for optimism. In the latest edition of its “Asked & Answered” series, a Q&A with fans, Rockstar Games responded to a question about L.A. Noire with a glimmer of hope.

The publisher nixed the thought of any additional content being released for L.A. Noire, but hinted that the world may not have seen the last of the detective simulator:

… don’t count out the possibility of a new game in the L.A. Noire franchise in the future. We simply have not decided anything. We’re all very pleased with how that game turned out and are considering what the future may hold for L.A. Noire as a series. We don’t always rush to make sequels, but that does not mean we won’t get to them eventually — see Max and Red Dead for evidence of that — we have so many games we want to make and the issue is always one of bandwidth and timing.

Indeed, there was a six-year gap between Red Dead Revolver and Red Dead Redemption, and by the time Max Payne 3 launches in May, eight and a half years will have passed since the release of its immediate predecessor. Team Bondi may not exist anymore, but Rockstar does own the L.A. Noire IP.

If we do ever see another L.A. Noire game, its existence will have defied the odds once again. While the long-in-development title launched to critical acclaim last May, its makers — the Sydney-based studio Team Bondi — became embroiled in an embarrassing cavalcade of post-release controversies. These included reports of missing credits for scores of employees; allegations by former employees of being overworked and not compensated properly; rumors of an irreparably soured relationship with publisher Rockstar Games; and ultimately, a sale of assets and IP before going into administration (the Australian equivalent of bankruptcy) with over AUD 1.4 million of collective debt to staff and creditors.

That said, L.A. Noire was one of my top ten games of 2011, and I’ll gladly wait half a decade or more if Rockstar can make a sequel that turns out as well as the original. What about you?

Asked & Answered: Max Payne 3 and More… [Rockstar Games]