LA Noire's Team Bondi Shutting Its Doors

[garbon]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/10/05/la-noires-team-bondi-shutting-its-doors/

It's a sad thing to report that the studio behind the creative and thoroughly excellent LA Noire is closing down. Team Bondi worked with Rockstar to put out the crime thriller title, and is now out of business, despite the game being a smash hit critically and commercially.

So what happened? It's sort of a mystery at this point, but there have been a few controversies that could point to larger issues. In June, it came out that over 100 developers were left out of the final credits despite their extensive work on the game, and the slighted even launched a website to voice their complaints.

Bondi studio head Brendan McNamara also took some flak from ex-employees accusing him of "mismanagment," which he denied. But something was clearly mismanaged as you don't produce a hit like this then shut down for no reason. Time will tell what really happened at Bondi, but for now we can only speculate.

The first title apparently took 7 years of development on Bondi's part, which is far above most games, and likely contributed to their ultimate downfall, as some employees were reporting they had to work 100 hour weeks to meet deadlines. The last we heard from Bondi about the matter was lead programmer Dave Heironymus saying "no-one at Team Bondi is under the illusion that crunching is a good way to work and we're actively working to learn from our mistakes for our next project." Apparently they just didn't learn quickly enough.

So what will happen to LA Noire? Rockstar has a habit of turning its titles into franchises, and there's every reason to think that they will bring the name back with a new team. The game was far from perfect, but was a refreshing piece of original content in a landscape full of sequels. To call for another game may seem ironic, but that's how the industry deals with hits, and it stands to reason that with 4 million sold, we'll see another Noire adventure in a few years time.

[Neil]

I am not surprised.

[garbon]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

[grumbler]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

Yeah, really.  Anyone working less than 200 hours a week is a pussy.  I generally put in 300 hours a week, upping that when it gets busy.  You don't hear me complaining.

[garbon]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

Yeah, really.  Anyone working less than 200 hours a week is a pussy.  I generally put in 300 hours a week, upping that when it gets busy.  You don't hear me complaining.

No, I didn't mean anything like that but thanks for playing.

[Alcibiades]

Yeah, seriously, Garbon works nearly as much as you every week Grumbler.  I don't get these lazy sods or their complaints.

[garbon]

Nah, I'm on easy street now.

[sbr]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

I didn't see anyone whining about it here in this article, they just mentioned it in context of mismanagement.  Have you seen another article where people are whining about it?

[garbon]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

I didn't see anyone whining about it here in this article, they just mentioned it in context of mismanagement.  Have you seen another article where people are whining about it?

Sure.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/blockbuster-la-noire-faces-credits-crisis-20110620-1gaw3.html

Another developer, who contributed to the gameplay of L.A. Noire for just over three years, said he left before the game was completed because "I felt as though my sanity depended on it".
Brendan McNamara ... a humbling experience.

Team Bondi boss Brendan McNamara Photo: Jon Reid

He said he was asked to work 10-12 hours almost every day and on weekends and described working at Team Bondi as being an inflexible and virtually praise-free environment.

"So, after my wife had been pushing me to quit for more than a year, I did," he said.

The developer said he didn't believe being left off the credits had affected him prefessionally but he wanted to be recognised because he had dedicated "25 per cent of my professional life" to the blockbuster game.

It's similar to whining that I once did.

[Warspite]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

What's wrong with whining about that? Working those kinds of hours does little for either productivity (bad for the employer) or health (bad for the employee).

As workplace moaning goes, 14 hour days, seven days a week, is probably quite justified.

[The Brain]

100 hours of moaning a week is excessive.

[Syt]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

What's wrong with whining about that? Working those kinds of hours does little for either productivity (bad for the employer) or health (bad for the employee).

As workplace moaning goes, 14 hour days, seven days a week, is probably quite justified.

I'm guessing garbon's point was that if your employer makes you work those hours, and you hate it, you should quit, not whine.

[sbr]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

What's wrong with whining about that? Working those kinds of hours does little for either productivity (bad for the employer) or health (bad for the employee).

As workplace moaning goes, 14 hour days, seven days a week, is probably quite justified.

I'm guessing garbon's point was that if your employer makes you work those hours, and you hate it, you should quit, not whine.

Right, especially when they are giving away new jobs in Cracker Jack boxes, right?

[Razgovory]

Right, especially when they are giving away new jobs in Cracker Jack boxes, right?

From what I gather work schedules like that are endemic in the industry.  Especially toward the end of a project.

[garbon]

That said - people whining about pulling a 100-hour week. Boo-hoo.

What's wrong with whining about that? Working those kinds of hours does little for either productivity (bad for the employer) or health (bad for the employee).

As workplace moaning goes, 14 hour days, seven days a week, is probably quite justified.

I'm guessing garbon's point was that if your employer makes you work those hours, and you hate it, you should quit, not whine.

Right, especially when they are giving away new jobs in Cracker Jack boxes, right?

Lots of them did leave - which is why they didn't make the credits.