Posted on Thursday 4-Aug-2011 10:01 AM

Troubled LA Noire dev in acquisition talks - report

Team Bondi said to be ready to sell out after struggling to find publishing partners

By Tom Ivan for computerandvideogames.com

LA Noire developer Team Bondi may be absorbed into Academy Award winning producer George Miller's KMM Studio in Sydney, according to reports.

LA Noire Screenshot
Kotaku sources claim Team Bondi is struggling to find publishing partners for its next game following a fallout with Rockstar and accusations of harsh working conditions, and that studio boss Brendan McNamara has been seen touring the offices of KMM, which is making the animated film Happy Feet 2 and the upcoming Mad Max movie.

According to the source: "Brendan McNamara was seen walking through the buildings of Dr. D [a new digital production studio created by Miller] yesterday, where Happy Feet 2 is being made.

"Because Dr. D is filled with former Team Bondi employees who left due to the abusive work conditions, this unexpected visit was quite... unsettling - to put it mildly.

"The word is going round that Team Bondi is being folded into KMM studios, Team Bondi is pretty much doomed after the scandal and can't find any new supporters, so by doing this they can hide their name."

KMM is currently headed up by God of War 2 director Cory Barlog, who was working on a Mad Max game to release alongside the new movie.

[ Source: Kotaku ]

computerandvideogames.com
Tom Ivan
Recommended Links
From The Web

Comments

10 comments so far...

  1. Report this post Reply with quote
    anytime on 4 Aug '11 said:

    I'm surprised activision doesn't snap them up, they would make a good team in more ways than one.

  2. Report this post Reply with quote
    woodins on 4 Aug '11 said:

    I bet Kotick and McNamara would bond well together, in the same way that Palpatine and Anakin did.

  3. Report this post Reply with quote
    metallicorphan on 4 Aug '11 said:

    I would of thought Rockstar would of bought them so that they had a Rockstar Australia company,guess that's out of the question if they fell out with each other though

  4. Report this post Reply with quote
    alan666 on 4 Aug '11 said:

    I would of thought Rockstar would of bought them so that they had a Rockstar Australia company,guess that's out of the question if they fell out with each other though

    most R* games are banned in Australia, because the government is a bunch of right wing idiots.

  5. Report this post Reply with quote
    humanhand on 4 Aug '11 said:

    Sounds about right.

  6. Report this post Reply with quote
    El Mag on 4 Aug '11 said:

    A Button - I hope you find a buyer, the game was decent.
    X Button - I DOUBT YOU'LL FIND A BUYER, GRRRR YOU ATE MY CAKE DIDN'T YA!
    Y Button - You ate the cake, knocked over my bins, stole my grandmother, run over my dog and forced them to work 23 hours a day. This old sock proves everything.
    Left Bumper - What would Jesus do?

  7. Report this post Reply with quote
    rbt2 on 4 Aug '11 said:

    most R* games are banned in Australia, because the government is a bunch of right wing idiots.


    Lucky old Australia!
    I've always found R* games to be far too repetitive and dull meself.

  8. Report this post Reply with quote
    Queen Skillage on 5 Aug '11 said:

    I would of thought Rockstar would of bought them so that they had a Rockstar Australia company,guess that's out of the question if they fell out with each other though

    most R* games are banned in Australia, because the government is a bunch of right wing idiots.


    There's only one R* game that was banned here, and that's Manhunt, we can thank the cockhead Philip Ruddock for that. R* never even tried to get Manhunt 2 released here, because they'd get the same lovely greeting. Other than that, GTA's are sometimes edited for the MA15+ rating because of noobs.

  9. Report this post Reply with quote
    metallicorphan on 5 Aug '11 said:


    There's only one R* game that was banned here, and that's Manhunt, we can thank the cockhead Philip Ruddock for that. R* never even tried to get Manhunt 2 released here, because they'd get the same lovely greeting. Other than that, GTA's are sometimes edited for the MA15+ rating because of noobs.


    yeah Manhunt got banned here in the UK for a little while as well when it was blamed for a kids death,Manhunt 2 took ages to get a certificate here,and was released a year after the US version

  10. Report this post Reply with quote
    FASELI on 5 Aug '11 said:

    Manhunt was never banned in the UK, retailers just withdrew it from their shelves because they were too afraid the red tops might point the figure at them.