Take-Two CEO hints at an L.A. Noire return — but don't hold your breath
The boss of Grand Theft Auto's publisher just teased a possible L.A. Noire sequel, then spent the next sentence making sure no one got too excited. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, told Variety reporter Jenny Maas at the iicon conference in Las Vegas that the company is looking at doing something with L.A. Noire in the future. That single word — "yes" — is about as far as the commitment goes.
The claim
After the initial "yes," Zelnick clarified, per Insider Gaming: "You never know for certain. Let's say that in the future we plan to do something with all of our intellectual property, but we're not announcing anything right now." That's standard publisher non-speak for "we haven't forgotten this franchise exists." No project has been announced, and no insider source has reported active development on a sequel.
The original L.A. Noire launched in 2011 for PS3 and Xbox 360. Set in late-1940s Los Angeles, it used then-novel facial motion capture to drive its detective gameplay. A remaster landed in 2017 across PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch, followed by a VR spin-off in 2019. The game sits on Steam for $19.99 and remains available on all current consoles — but nothing new has shipped in nearly a decade.
The Rockstar Australia angle
There's one concrete development worth noting. In March 2025, Rockstar Games acquired Video Games Deluxe — the Australian studio founded by Brendan McNamara, the director of the original L.A. Noire — and rebranded it Rockstar Australia. That puts the people who built the original game back under the Take-Two umbrella. On paper, they're the obvious team for a sequel.
In practice, the studio is almost certainly absorbed into support work for GTA 6, which is targeting a late-2026 release. Rockstar's resources follow GTA money, and a prestige single-player detective game is a hard sell when one title generates billions annually.
Realistic outlook
The appetite for a sequel is real — the 2017 remaster sold well enough to justify a Switch port, and the fan base has been vocal for years. Even Aaron Staton, the voice of protagonist Cole Phelps, said as recently as 2021 that he'd heard nothing about a follow-up. Zelnick's comment moves the needle slightly, but a concrete announcement before 2027 seems unlikely. For now, the 2017 remaster is the best version available — and at $19.99 on Steam, it's worth revisiting while waiting.
