PS3 News: L.A. Noire Developer Placed Into Administration - PS3 News

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L.A. Noire Developer Placed Into Administration

Nobody who cares about the industry enjoys writing such stories.

But maybe one game in six years - regardless of that game's greatness - just wasn't enough. That, coupled with the internal strife that has been so well documented, must've spelled the end for L.A. Noire developer Team Bondi.

According to various reports, since confirmed at GameSpot, the embattled design team has officially been placed in administration. After rumors that all the studio's assets had been sold off to multimedia production firm Kennedy Miller Mitchell, we now find a listing on the Australian Securities & Investments Commission website that says Team Bondi is "under external administration and/or controlled appointment."

In recent months, we've learned that most of the team had disappeared (some to the aforementioned multimedia company), and there were continued allegations concerning unfair and even brutal working conditions. Unfortunately, this final step was probably inevitable.

Typically, when a title grabs all sorts of critical acclaim and sells millions of copies, the studio responsible is assured of a bright future. But obviously, something was rotten from within...it's the only explanation.

Tags: team bondi, la noire. l.a. noire, rockstar

9/1/2011 10:28:17 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (19 posts)

Underdog15
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 11:11:13 AM
Reply

Yeah, definitely agree. Success is not usually met by failure. Perfect example of the importance of a team approach to life in general. It never matters how good any one person is or how good each person is. If the collective is not in harmony with one another, failure is assured. We see it in families, sports, music.... everything. Humans are meant to work together. When they don't, they fail.

Agree with this comment 7 up, 1 down Disagree with this comment

Ultimadream
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 11:27:50 AM
Reply

Such a shame developers which are really being innovative (& by that I dont mean creating a game towards the latest motion control gimmick) are torn to pieces while battlefield/Call of Duty remain important in the public eye. This is why I do not support the majority...

Agree with this comment 4 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Cuetes
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 3:49:09 PM

I'm with you on that, couldn't of said it better myself.

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Axe99
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 5:01:23 PM

Aye, but in this case it's more like the dev tore themselves to pieces through bad management practices. The sales of LA Noire would be enough for almost any other development budget to make money, and yet Team Bondi and it's poor management still can't survive. While it's a shame to see Team Bondi go under, it'll hopefully be a lesson to other devs to manage their staff better.

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Laguna
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 11:29:14 AM
Reply

Its not sad that this happened. Its good. When people do not get their due and are not given credit for their work, then something is not right.

The allegations of brutal work hours...i mean hsve we honestly heard about this from anywhere else? I know Activision and Modern Warfare 2 had a horrible fallout, but considering how so many game developers talk about how their experiences are usually positive (if the game turns out good) it becomes surprising and distasteful when you hear about how Bondi really did bad practices. Let this be a lesson, treat your employees with respect, lest you will eventually get what you deserve.

Agree with this comment 4 up, 1 down Disagree with this comment

LimitedVertigo
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 11:42:22 AM
Reply

I don't believe in karma but this would be a great example of it if you do.

Agree with this comment 3 up, 1 down Disagree with this comment

WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 1:04:38 PM

I believe when somebody drops money that is my good karma working and I am not obligated to give it back.

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Fane1024
Friday, September 02, 2011 @ 3:39:02 AM

There's no such thing as good karma. All karma is bad as it leads to more suffering.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 1:05:58 PM
Reply

Yes, something was rotten in the state of Denmark. But still it's sad to see them go after such great work. I think Rockstar still has the Noire license though.

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Excelsior1
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 2:00:30 PM
Reply

it sure does sound like something was rotten from within. they were very foolish to have pissed off r*, and all the negative allegations kept other publishers away.

when a game sells 4 million copies as a new ip it's usually considered a success but in this case the development time of 7 yrs and all the allegations against team bondi kind of ruined it. there are probably some lessons to be learned here.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 3:00:48 PM
Reply

The irony here is that while the game may have sold less as a PS3 exclusive, you can bet your monkey ass that Sony would have done everything in their power to keep the studio in business had it stayed PS3 exclusive.

"Multiplat is the best business decision!" Ummm, no not always.

Agree with this comment 8 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

clockwyzebkny
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 5:42:24 PM
Reply

Damn now we have to go uncover every single item which might be a clue in Team Bondi's office.
My money's on McNamara. No doubt or truth only LIES!!!
Just kidding lol

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BikerSaint
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 5:58:20 PM
Reply

Here's a very interesting read about what was going on inside Team Bondi that finally set their downfall in motion......

The Emails Behind The Whistle Blowing at Team Bondi

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-07-05-revealed-the-internal-emails-that-provoked-whistle-blowing-at-team-bondi-blog-entry

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BikerSaint
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 6:10:08 PM
Reply

Funny thing is that things seem to come in "threes", so here's another one, this time work-place allegations being leveled against Take-2.

(Hmmm, all 3 have a theme going on, just because they've all been been against companies somewhat related to each other.... 1st with R*-San Diego, then Team Bondi, & now it's T-2 getting bad press from within.

Take-Two QA Tester's "wage abuse" case seeking more plaintiffs

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/36883/Law_Firm_Seeking_TakeTwo_Testers_For_Class_Action_On_Payment_Benefit_Issues.php

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frylock25
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 6:32:50 PM
Reply

i just started playing this game in the past week. i am loving every part of it. i think they did a wonderful job with it and i hope that we get another game by maybe a more stable company. i am about half way through the story and it just keeps making me want to play more. i have almost skipped work twice lol. awesome game sucks they wound up like this.

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SmokeyPSD
Thursday, September 01, 2011 @ 10:34:38 PM
Reply

This is just not right :(

Rockstar getting alllll the buzz completely for LA Noire and Team Bondi going down the toilet.

I can't help but think Rockstar hung them out to dry and they almost always get the credit on behalf of the real developers when they publish and/or bolster development with some of their inhouse studios.

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ZenChichiri
Friday, September 02, 2011 @ 12:47:33 AM

Tell me about it. Back when they were making GTA3, one of the developers saw me buy a hooker and then kill her to get my money back. He decided it would be a good idea to put it in the game, and look at all the publicity that it brought! Did I ever get compensated for that? Nope.

Agree with this comment 3 up, 1 down Disagree with this comment

___________
Friday, September 02, 2011 @ 4:48:28 AM
Reply

no one should like writing such news, its horrible putting so much of your blood sweat and tears into a company then to only see it go down the drain.
not to mention they now need to find a new job.
releasing 1 game in 5 years had absolutely nothing to do with them going down the crapper.
they went down the crapper because of that pompous brick brendan and his thick stubborn ways.
no one wanted to work for him, no one wanted to publish his games, so where the hell was he suppose to go?
amazing how much damage one pompous prick can do to a whole company!

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Jed
Saturday, September 03, 2011 @ 6:24:36 AM
Reply

I haven't read into this too much, but it's just so sad to see a dev go under after producing such a great, game-changing new IP. There really must have been some crazy shtuff going on there.

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