While L.A. Noire may have been a critical and commercial hit for publisher Rockstar, an elongated development and generally poor mismanagement has cost developer Team Bondi dearly. With allegations of horrendous work conditions and the dishonest practice of excluding developer’s names from the game’s credits, the developer has had a hard time finding a new publisher and so may have gone bankrupt.
According to several NeoGAF posts, “Team Bondi are now bankrupt”, and “the remaining staff [will] be bought by KMM, including Brendan McNamara who was instrumental in sealing the deal.” This ties neatly into recent rumors that Brendan was seen at the Happy Feet-producing studio the other day, although it won’t come as good news to the developers who previously left Team Bondi for KMM due to Brendan’s work ethic.
In addition, Depth Analysis – the sister company who own the fantastic facial tech that everybody raves about – “are also in some trouble” because they didn’t make much money off of L.A. Noire.
As Rockstar owns the IP to L.A. Noire, any sequels made would have to come from another developer, rather than whatever is left of Team Bondi after the buyout.
