During the same earnings call that reported on the delay of Spec Ops: The Line, Take-Two Interactive's Chief Operating Officer, Strauss Zelnick, said that the recently released, and Australian-developed, L.A. Noire, was "another strong franchise for this company," making early comparisons to the success of Red Dead Redemption in terms of it being a new IP (which incidentally it was revealed has sold through more than 8.5 million units worldwide).

"No matter how you slice it, it's a very successful release and to be able to say that again is extraordinary," he said. "And if it needs to be said, this management team is just immensely grateful to Rockstar for delivering another superb title, one can never take that for granted. The hit ratio for this group is nothing short of extraordinary."

This statement followed details of a renewed employment contract with Rockstar Games for an undisclosed amount of time, but given the heritage of the two, we can assume it's long.

The big question now comes in the form of what happens with Team Bondi and the L.A. Noire IP. Will Rockstar let the Sydney-based studio handle the series moving forward, or could we even see them becoming Rockstar Sydney down the track? Whatever the case, it's great to see Aussie development riding such a solid high after the local industry has suffered so many blows.

L.A. Noire is now available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (AusGamers Review 9.5/10)