Rockstar Won’t Publish The Next Team Bondi Project
Disdain, apparently.
Published: 8:30, 05/07/2011 by Alex C [nofi].
13Rockstar won’t be publishing the next Team Bondi game, so the Australian L.A. Noire developers will need to find a new publisher.
That’s according to emails picked up by Gamesindustry.biz (and reported by Eurogamer) overnight, that suggest that the working conditions were so terrible at Team Bondi that Rockstar now has “disdain” for the studio.
Cole investigating one of the many, many murders in the game.
“I’ve heard a lot about Rockstar’s disdain for Team Bondi,” says the source, “and it has been made quite clear that they will not publish Team Bondi’s next game.”
“Team Bondi are trying to find another publisher for their next title, but the relationship with Rockstar has been badly damaged – Brendan treats L.A. Noire like a success due to his vision but I think Rockstar are the ones who saved the project. They continued to sink money into L.A. Noire, and their marketing was fantastic.”
“Without their continued support, Team Bondi would have gone under several years ago,” said the source. Strong words, but it’s evident that a lot of L.A. Noire’s retail success was down to the Rockstar branding – the game itself was hardly the best thing this year.
“It’s also worth pointing out that Rockstar used to be very keen on making Team Bondi something like ‘Rockstar Sydney’ – the more they worked with Team Bondi management, the more they came to understand that this was a terrible idea.”
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05/07/2011 at 08:54
Member since: Feb 2011
Sad to hear that people probably didn’t get paid their overtime – especially when you consider how much the game probably earned!
05/07/2011 at 08:59
Member since: Oct 2009
Heard a lot about this from a certain twitter feed over the last year, the conditions they’ve worked in were/are terrible.
05/07/2011 at 08:59
Member since: May 2009
“Brendan treats L.A. Noire like a success due to his vision but I think Rockstar are the ones who saved the project. They continued to sink money into L.A. Noire, and their marketing was fantastic.”
Totally agree. I was super hyped for LA Noire, simply because Rockstar was behind it and it looked like a mix of Heavy Rain, GTA and Mafia, some of my favorite games.
While LA Noire is well made, is beautiful and have some unique ideas. It’s gameplay gets boring and frustrating when you reach the second part of the game. I have a suspension some of the reviewers, didn’t play the game to the end properly and wanted to like the game no matter what, because it is a Rockstar game.
I don’t hate LA Noire, but it’s not a 90 game, more like 70, which I believe was TSA’s score also.
05/07/2011 at 10:25
Member since: Jul 2010
I was hesitant about buying la noire, but i thought as R* are backing it, then ill trust it’ll be a wicked game. It lacked the attention to gameplay details, as all prev R* projects,with the exception of state of emergency. la noire, although i too dont hate it, i far from love it. Its almost like i try to convince myself, i like it more than i do, or i’ll feel sick at throwing my money away.
05/07/2011 at 10:27
Member since: Jul 2010
Sorry wandered there. So even if conditions had of been good, i would have wanted R* to walk away from this one. (too slow rusty.)
05/07/2011 at 10:27
Member since: May 2009
I’m convinced I don’t like, actually my copy is going into to Gamestop today, for a preorder deal on Rage :)
05/07/2011 at 10:28
Member since: May 2009
Edit: like = love
05/07/2011 at 09:32
Member since: Jun 2009
I am pretty sure that without the Rockstar branding on the game & the amount that they put into marketing the product, LA Noire wouldn’t have done so well.
I for one had never heard of Team Bondi before this, so i think i would have been a little more apprehensive had Rockstar not been behind it.
05/07/2011 at 09:48
Member since: Jun 2009
Kinda like when a Major film director lends there name to a unknown film and there name is splashed all over the posters but has no direct involvement other than the publicity. Personally I would have still purchased LA Noire though.
05/07/2011 at 09:55
Member since: Jun 2009
Haha yeah – “Endorsed by Quentin Tarantino” at the top, then a disclaimer in miniscule writing at the bottom says “Tarantino had no part in the making of this movie”
Oh & don’t get me wrong – I absolutely agree about the purchase, as i was sold on the concept not the team making it. I just think that it wouldn’t have had as much ‘clout’ without the Rockstar branding is all.
05/07/2011 at 11:11
Member since: Apr 2009
The team behind it was making their first major game together, but I think that the studio was built from the bones of the team that made The Getaway, which would always get my attention.
05/07/2011 at 09:45
Member since: Jul 2009
Very sad reading to hear about conditions like this. Hope Team Bondi see the bad press they’re getting and amend their ways.
05/07/2011 at 09:45
Member since: Dec 2008
Does no one else see this as a bit hypocritical. If memory serves was there not a bit of furore surrounding rockstars working environment with the whole rockstar wives emails that were floating about. It looks to me a bit like “hi kettle, meet pot. I think you have something in common”
05/07/2011 at 09:46
Member since: Jul 2009
Depends if they addressed things, I suppose.
05/07/2011 at 13:29
Member since: Feb 2011
Thats what I thought. Kind of hypocritical…
05/07/2011 at 10:14
Member since: Mar 2009
One of the few “Rockstar” games I’ve not purchased in recent years. Be interesting to see what Team Bondi come up with next.
05/07/2011 at 11:20
Member since: Oct 2009
well it is not Rockstar really.
05/07/2011 at 11:03
Member since: May 2010
very bad to hear what the workers have been through :( Even without Rockstar’s name on it i would have purchased the game as the concept and idea of the game was perfect for my tastes, and in my opinion it has been the best game this year (for me, i know its not everyone’s cup of tea) But with Rockstar advertising and name it did make the sales go up. I am still shocked at the awful conditions for Team Bondi workers, shocking
05/07/2011 at 11:16
Member since: Apr 2009
My favourite game this year by far.
I think it was reviewed strangely.
Most accuse the game of repetition, begging the question of what people expected a procedural game to be like. Police procedures don’t tend to change from case to case, and it always was going to be 1)Go to scene 2)Find clues 3)Chase people 4)Interview people.
The game should have been judged on how it did the above mechanics, and it certainly delivered.
I do have to say that all the reports of working conditions under McNamara are disgustingly bad though. If he wants Team Bondi to make another ‘AAA’ game, he may need to step aside to satisfy publishers and public relations image.
05/07/2011 at 11:22
Member since: Oct 2009
love the game as well guys the videos sold me.
05/07/2011 at 11:21
Member since: Oct 2009
shame I hope they shape up because L.A Noire 2 could be a masterpiece.
05/07/2011 at 13:18
Member since: Apr 2009
First the twitter account that leaked Sony’s unease and now Rockstar. At this rate no one will have ‘em