Team Bondi
Encyclopedia
Team Bondi was an Australia
n independent
third-party game developer
. The company was founded by Brendan McNamara, who was the former Director of Development for Sony Computer Entertainment
’s Team Soho Studio
in London
and writer and director of The Getaway
.
and Xbox 360
game L.A. Noire
, which was published by Rockstar Games
. An in-game trailer was released on 11 November 2010, which subsequently confirmed the release date as 17 May 2011. The company's website stated that it would be developing games for the current-generation consoles only.
On 9 August 2011, numerous outlets reported that Team Bondi's intellectual property
and assets had been sold to Kennedy-Miller Mitchell, a Sydney-based multimedia production firm set up by Mad Max maker George Miller.
According to forms lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission
the business was placed into administration on 30 August 2011.
In further documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on 5 October 2011, it was revealed that following a meeting of creditors a decision had been made to that Team Bondi be wound up
.
According to McNamara, Team Bondi closed down because they had not signed another project in the time they needed to. He says it happened because "we got a lot of bad press about what it was like to work with us and our conditions. That, obviously, didn't come at the right time. To do a deal for a major video game probably takes about a year. We didn't start running around doing that stuff until well after the game was finished. That's the problem when a game is all-consuming and you need to get out there and do whatever you need to do to get people to know it and interested. They would probably be the two main things, I'd say." After liquidation, Team Bondi's assets and most of its staff went to Kennedy-Miller Mitchell. Some of the former employees have gone to work in different Rockstar studios. Rockstar retained the L.A. Noire intellectual property. McNamara himself states that he is currently working on a video game about "one of the great untold stories of the 20th Century".
Just over a month after L.A. Noires release, an article was published on IGN Australia entitled "Why Did L.A. Noire Take Seven Years to Make?". The article contained quotes from 11 anonymous ex-Team Bondi employees, who discussed the managerial style of the studio, the studio's staff turnover rates and the working hours and conditions associated with L.A. Noire. The article also interviewed Team Bondi studio head Brendan McNamara, as well as Erin Hoffman, the author of the "EA Spouse
" blog, which focused similar attention on the labour practices of Electronic Arts
in 2004. Further internal emails, and comments from staff members were released in July 2011 on Gamesindustry.biz.
A week after the IGN article was published, the IGDA announced that it would investigate the claims over working conditions at Team Bondi; with IGDA chairman Brian Robbins saying “Certainly reports of 12-hour a day, lengthy crunch time, if true, are absolutely unacceptable and harmful to the individuals involved, the final product, and the industry as a whole".
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n independent
Independent business
In business, an independent business as a term of distinction generally refers to privately owned companies . Independent businesses most commonly take the form of sole-proprietorships...
third-party game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
. The company was founded by Brendan McNamara, who was the former Director of Development for Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
’s Team Soho Studio
Team SOHO
thumb|The Team SOHO LogoTeam SOHO is a British video game developer based in Soho, London and a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe . It started out developing titles for the original PlayStation, including such acclaimed hits as Total NBA '97 and Porsche Challenge, followed by the...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and writer and director of The Getaway
The Getaway (video game)
The Getaway is a video game series focused on gang life and the police in the city of London. The series was created by Brendan McNamara and is developed by Team Soho for the PlayStation 2...
.
History
Team Bondi was founded in 2003 by Brendan McNamara. The company is responsible for the development of the PlayStation 3PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
game L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire is a 2011 crime video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows. It was released as a 3-disc game for the Xbox 360 console, which prompts the player to switch to another disc at certain points in the...
, which was published by Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of UK video game publisher BMG Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A...
. An in-game trailer was released on 11 November 2010, which subsequently confirmed the release date as 17 May 2011. The company's website stated that it would be developing games for the current-generation consoles only.
On 9 August 2011, numerous outlets reported that Team Bondi's intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
and assets had been sold to Kennedy-Miller Mitchell, a Sydney-based multimedia production firm set up by Mad Max maker George Miller.
According to forms lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is an independent Australian government body that acts as Australia's corporate regulator...
the business was placed into administration on 30 August 2011.
In further documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on 5 October 2011, it was revealed that following a meeting of creditors a decision had been made to that Team Bondi be wound up
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
.
According to McNamara, Team Bondi closed down because they had not signed another project in the time they needed to. He says it happened because "we got a lot of bad press about what it was like to work with us and our conditions. That, obviously, didn't come at the right time. To do a deal for a major video game probably takes about a year. We didn't start running around doing that stuff until well after the game was finished. That's the problem when a game is all-consuming and you need to get out there and do whatever you need to do to get people to know it and interested. They would probably be the two main things, I'd say." After liquidation, Team Bondi's assets and most of its staff went to Kennedy-Miller Mitchell. Some of the former employees have gone to work in different Rockstar studios. Rockstar retained the L.A. Noire intellectual property. McNamara himself states that he is currently working on a video game about "one of the great untold stories of the 20th Century".
Controversy
At the start of June 2011, a group of former Team Bondi employees launched a website called lanoirecredits.com, which contained 100 extra employee names that had not been in L.A. Noires credits list or that had been incorrectly listed in it. The majority of the names were employees that had either left Team Bondi or been made redundant as the game reached completion. The omission of the names "went against the International Game Developers Association’s (IGDA) framework for games crediting which aims for ethical representation of those who contribute to games of all sizes."Just over a month after L.A. Noires release, an article was published on IGN Australia entitled "Why Did L.A. Noire Take Seven Years to Make?". The article contained quotes from 11 anonymous ex-Team Bondi employees, who discussed the managerial style of the studio, the studio's staff turnover rates and the working hours and conditions associated with L.A. Noire. The article also interviewed Team Bondi studio head Brendan McNamara, as well as Erin Hoffman, the author of the "EA Spouse
EA Spouse
EA Spouse is the name commonly used to refer to a blog post originally made on November 11, 2004 to LiveJournal that sharply criticized the labor practices of Electronic Arts...
" blog, which focused similar attention on the labour practices of Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
in 2004. Further internal emails, and comments from staff members were released in July 2011 on Gamesindustry.biz.
A week after the IGN article was published, the IGDA announced that it would investigate the claims over working conditions at Team Bondi; with IGDA chairman Brian Robbins saying “Certainly reports of 12-hour a day, lengthy crunch time, if true, are absolutely unacceptable and harmful to the individuals involved, the final product, and the industry as a whole".