L.A. Noire developer shuts down for good

By Ryan Fleming October 5, 2011

It has been a tumultuous year for Team Bondi, filled with some very high highs, and some very low lows. After nearly seven years spent in development, this May the results of years of work was finally released, and L.A. Noire was an immediate hit. Using facial animation technology in a new way, Team Bondi created a game that took existing gaming styles of gameplay and turned them on their head. L.A. Noire has sold close to two million copies worldwide, and both the game and the developer were applauded. Then the criticisms began.

It began when problems between Team Bondi and publisher Rockstar came to light. Rockstar had considered incorporating Team Bondi into its family and rebranding them as Rockstar Sydney, but then tensions between Team Bondi founder Brendan McNamara and Rockstar execs flared, and the publisher publicly refused to continue working with the developer. Fair or not, McNamara received the bulk of the blame for the deteriorating relationship, and that impression was further fueled by several current and former Team Bondi employees coming forth and claiming that the working conditions violated several legal and ethical rules. Over 100 developers were said to be excluded from the final credits as well.

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There were defenders of Team Bondi, but the damage had already been done, and the loss of Rockstar as a partner became an insurmountable obstacle. Rumors of bankruptcy began to fly, and then a last minute save from George Miller’s KMM Studios seemed to be in the works.

Those negotiations ended up going nowhere, and now Gamasutra is reporting that papers filed with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission reveal that Team Bondi is in the process of fully shutting down.

L.A. Noire was originally planned as the first game in a potential franchise, utilizing the motion capture technology. The question now becomes, what happens to the property? Even without Team Bondi, the possible series-in-them-making has the potential to remain a lucrative one, and Take Two–Rockstar’s parent company and IP holder–isn’t likely to let a successful series die along with its developer.

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NPD: Video game sales in July fall to the lowest level in five years

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As reported by the NPD group, video game sales over July dropped over 25 percent year over year and have fallen to the lowest levels since 2006. Total sales in July 2011 amounted to $707 million while sales just a year ago in July 2010 topped $960 million. The number of game systems sold was the source of the steepest decline at 29 percent, but last year's bump in sales is attributed to the release of a new Xbox 360 model. Software sales dropped from about $400 million to a bit over $336 million and accessory sales dipped just over $10 million year over year.
Electronic Arts NCAA Football 12 was the top seller of the month, likely satisfying football fans until the release of Madden NFL 12 on August 30. Disney's Cars 2, Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty Black Ops, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game and Ubisoft's Just Dance 2 rounded out the top five. Other games that sold well in July included Take-Two's Major League Baseball 2K11, Zumba Fitness: Join the Party, Bethesda's Fallout: New Vegas, Nintendo's Super Mario Bros DS and Warner Brothers Mortal Kombat.
Interestingly, the major releases in June like inFAMOUS 2 and Duke Nukem Forever didn't make the top 10 list in July. In addition, Rockstar's L.A. Noire fell out of the top rankings, unlike Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption in 2010. This report from NPD does not include sales of digital games on services like Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. DLC add-on content also isn't included in the totals. In a recent first quarter report from Electronic Arts, the company attributed more than a fifth of sales to digital downloads. The company expects to see that number rise to over 50 percent within the next five years.
Industry experts are predicting that August will also continue the downward trend in video game sales, mostly due to major titles like Square Enix's Deus Ex Human Revolution and EA Sports Madden NFL 12 launching at the end of the month.

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L.A. Noire developer may be filing for bankruptcy

Following reports that Team Bondi, developer of L.A. Noire, may be folded into Keller Miller Mitchell (KMM) Studios, more details on the shape of Team Bondi have leaked out. According to Develop, the Australian developer has begun to sell off its IPs and additional assets, and may be preparing to file bankruptcy.
No papers have been filed yet with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, signifying that the developer has not begun the process of trying to sell itself, but reports suggest that current Team Bondi employees have been given the opportunity of taking a new job at KMM, or accepting a severance package.
Assuming that the reports are true—and with more and more evidence supporting those reports it seems likely—then this may mark the sad end to a promising studio. Following the release of L.A. Noire after years in development, the game wowed critics and audiences on its way to selling 3.5 million units since its release in May. But despite the praise and solid sales, the behind-the-scenes issues within Team Bondi soon came to the surface.
L.A. Noire publisher Rockstar eventually decided to cut ties with Team Bondi after once toying with the idea of folding the developer into itself and rebranding them as Rockstar Sydney. But issues with the development, and especially with Noire’s director Brendan McNamara, soured relations. Several former Team Bondi employees also came forward and painted a bleak and unsafe working condition, and put much of the blame on McNamara, calling him a “bully” among other things. Other employees have since come to McNamara’s defense, but the damage was done, and Team Bondi is currently under investigation by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

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Team Bondi game IP and assets will reportedly be acquired by George Miller’s KMM

Last week we brought you word of a rumor that L.A. Noire developer Team Bondi was in discussions with Mad Max creator George Miller's company for some kind of acquisition. Those rumors picked up steam today with a report from Develop stating that a deal is indeed going through, with the film company taking possession of the game studio's IP and assets.

This comes from sources "close to the matter," so the following details aren't necessarily a done deal or even a reflection of the reality of this situation. All Bondi employees have reportedly been offered jobs at KMM, including Noire director Brendan McNamara, who was at the center of a scandal following the game's release in which former studio staffers raised allegations of harsh and unfair working conditions during the Rockstar-published game's development.