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There’s an interesting job opening out now at Rockstar Games.
BeskInfinity dropped this tweet earlier:
(Could be Nothing) R* Australia recently bought aka VideoGames-Deluxe are looking for a Senior Graphics Programmer with UE4 and 5 experience seeing that the only Game under R* with UE is GTA TDE and all R* AU did so far is drop the lighting patch in 2024 new patch might be coming
This is all a little interesting, though Besk’s explanation might go over your head. We’ll unpack what he’s saying here and how credible his speculation is.
Looking Into The Job Opening
We confirmed that Rockstar Australia has an opening for a Senior Graphics Programmer. The listing comes with this description:
Rockstar Australia are seeking Senior Graphics Programmers to help us develop our upcoming game projects. You will be working with a small but experienced team, ideally taking responsibility for one or more specific game technology areas, but also be capable of stepping outside your comfort zone to work in other areas as necessary.
This job listing does not say applicants have to know Unreal. Instead, it’s under the pluses heading. We’ll share that section for you below.
PLUSES
Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.
- Experience using existing graphics system analysis toolchains (RenderDoc, Pix, Razor, etc).
- Strong shader programming skills (HLSL, etc).
- Deep understanding of another two or more of the following game technology areas:
- Animation, Artificial Intelligence, Asset Pipelines, Audio, Gameplay, Navigation, Physics/Collision, UI/UX, Virtual Reality, or other.
- One or more shipped game title(s).
- Experience on modern game console architectures or mobile devices.
- Unreal Engine 4 or 5 experience.
- Scripting Languages (e.g. Lua, Python).
- Knowledge of game architectures (current and future trends).
- Ability to defend your position re: Tabs vs Spaces.
Who Is Rockstar Australia Again?
Rockstar Australia launched under the name Video Games Deluxe in 2013. The studio was founded by Brendan McNamara, a veteran who previously worked under Team Soho, Ratbag Pty, and Team Bondi.
Video Games Deluxe did some outsourcing projects for Rockstar Games. They helped make L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files. They were also one of the three original developers for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition alongside Grove Street Games and Za Studios.
That game’s original release was panned across the board. However, Video Games Deluxe redeemed themselves with the Netflix version of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition for iOS and Android in 2023.
These patches were ported back to the other versions of the trilogy in 2024. While these patches did not address all of the collection’s issues, it made a lot of improvements to these games.
What Could Rockstar Australia Be Working On?
Take-Two acquired them at the start of this year and renamed them to Rockstar Australia. Clearly, Take-Two and Rockstar have a lot of faith in the studio now.
Besk might be correct that Rockstar Australia is working on more fixes on Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. But we think there are other possibilities, such as ports and remasters of other games.
If that’s the case, we hope Take-Two sets more reasonable goals and allows them to remake games one at a time. There’s a wealth of classic Rockstar games to dip back into, and not just Grand Theft Auto games.
