L.A. Noire devs form new indie, Intuitive Game Studios

By Adam Rosenberg May 28, 2013

Intuitive Game Studios site

Team Bondi is no more and Whore of the Orient is dead as well, but the legacy of the Australian L.A. Noire dev lives on now in the newly formed Intuitive Game Studios, MCV reports. The newly formed Sydney-based indie is headed up by two Bondi vets: L.A. Noire design lead Alex Carlyle and Noire storyboard collaborator Kelly Baigent.

The Team Bondi folks haven’t had the easiest time since the release of L.A. Noire in 2011. Rockstar Games cut ties with the studio after allegations surfaced that writer/director Brendan McNamara subjected the team to harsh working conditions. The studio folded and was eventually absorbed into KMM, a multimedia production company that is partially owned by Mad Max creator George Miller.

KMM set the former Bondi team to work on Whore of the Orient, a period piece that unfortunately never made it far enough into production for anyone outside of the studio to see and report on it. KMM reportedly laid off the Bondi staff in April 2013 and is currently on an active hunt for investors.

Intuitive Game Studios seemingly stands apart from all of this. There is nothing more to go on than a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, and a very minimal official website. Carlyle intends to stay in Australia, as he told MCV, with the goal of building a “small studio” that will build up a reputation by working with contractors rather than staffers to start with.

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Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

L.A. Noire developer shuts down for good

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.

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.

Gaming

L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition out on November 8, PC specs revealed

Rockstar Games moved pretty quickly with L.A. Noire. Usually the developer will release a console game and then wait a year or more before rolling out the PC version. Noire hit stores back in May of this year, and Rockstar already has a release date set for its PC counterpart: November 8 in the United States and November 11 in Europe.

The release is actually L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition, and it'll be coming to Windows, as well as the Steam and OnLive digital distribution platforms. The title's "complete" refers to the fact that this PC release will include all downloadable content packs available for consoles in addition to the main game. In all, that includes: "Nicholson Electroplating" Arson case, "Reefer Madness" Vice case, "The Consul's Car" Traffic case, "The Naked City" Vice case and "A Slip of the Tongue" Traffic case. The whole package will retail for $49.99, which is pretty standard for a PC game.

Gaming

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).