Team Bondi Selling Off Assets and IP, Claims Source

35
Richard Walker

According to a source talking to Develop, Team Bondi has sold off its assets and game IP, as the Sydney-based developer supposedly faces bankruptcy, with the goods allegedly being transferred to Kennedy Miller Mitchell (KMM), who it's rumoured Team Bondi had apparently approached for merger negotiations.

An industry insider has claimed that Team Bondi staff are being offered a choice of a job at KMM or a severance package, while rumours are rife that the studio has entered administration and has "gone bankrupt" despite the success of LA Noire, which has shifted 4 million units since its release in May.

Team Bondi boss Brendan McNamara could also be joining KMM, while publisher Rockstar Games and animation company Depth Analysis who worked on LA Noire, remain unaffected by the ongoing issues that face Team Bondi at this time.

Comments
35
  • Tooo bad I thought this game was great and potential for upcoming games. I'm just going to blame Activision for ruining the ENTIRE GAMING WORLD!!!
  • what other games did they do besides LA Noire?
  • Is this the truth, doubt, or lie? let me ask the community.
  • Rockstar made this game happen. Don't get me wrong, Team Bondi put in a lot of (forced) effort, but this game is what it is because of Rockstar. And since they pulled out, Team Bondi can go to waste for all I care. What was the guy's name? McNamara? He can go to hell. The talent in the team will find its way.
  • So who owns the LA Noire IP now? I know in the article it says that it's been sold to KMM along with it's assets, but for some reason I thought Rockstar owned the IP? I guess they just published it, lol oh well. Always sad to hear about people losing their jobs though, I'm sure that KMM can't hire everyone, hope they find new jobs soon!
  • @3 I'd say lie, but I have no proof...):
  • @1 what does activision have to do with this? @2 LA noire was there only game, the company founded by Brendan McNamara, was the director and writer for the getaway for team soho
  • @7 Nothing, I just like to blame Andy Kotick for everything wrong in video games :P
  • god damn la noire was so good
  • the pic is very fitting.
  • surprised anybody worked with him after the getaway, such a bad game, and the sequel was somehow worse haven't played LA noire, not my type of game, hope all the staff who worked on this game manage to get more work in the industry, as for brendan, he can go rot for all i care @8 do you mean bobby kotick ?
  • @1 What in the HELL does Activision have to do with this? They are one of the few publishers that dont charge for online and dont shut down servers.. but they are at fault for a game they had nothing to do with? but enough talk with stupid comments.. who owns this IP now??
  • @4 You do realize most of them will probably be out of a job right? How would you feel if the company you worked filed for Bankrupt and you were gonna get laid off and have to find another job? Show a little respect, they are humans beings just like you. None of them including Brendan McNamara has done anything wrong to you for you to be cursing them like that.
  • Good riddance.
  • if what we heard about McNamara and the way he ran his team is true thenthis is what he deserved i guess.
  • Yeah, I only realised mcnamara did the getaway after finishing la noire (on the ps3 nach). What amuses me was that whilst playing it I was thinking. "Shit this is like the getaway but err.. not as good." You can jones over the fancy tech as much as you like (it was very cool) but the game itself was pretty meh to me. Especially in terms of the fragmented plot.
  • Hmmm, that is weird. How can they go bankrupt after pushing millions of units and making so much money? Unless they were so bad in debts, it did take them good few years to make and money had to come from somewhere othe than Rockstar as well....
  • Well looks like we won't be getting anymore DLC...
  • How ON EARTH do you go bankrupt after selling 4 million copies of a single game. Poor business management. Something we seem to see a lot of these days in the games industry
  • the game was interesting, still going bankrupt so soon after the 4 million mark is kind of odd...
  • They went bankrupt because McNamara was a total scumbag and companies like Rockstar refuse to do business with them now after hearing about the practices going on in their company. And by scumbag, I mean McNamara is way worse than even Bobby Kotick.
  • @12 No, Activision doesn't charge you for online play (yet). But they do rip off the gamers with overpriced Map Packs and by repackaging the same crap every year instead of raising the bar and adding exciting changes. And they will keep doing that as long as "idiots" keep buying their products. I hope I live to see the day that Activision goes out of business. Think about it, what else do they have going for themselves besides COD?
  • That is a shame. I don't think the guys who produced such a groundbreaking title deserve a fate like that.
  • Too bad. I really liked LA Noire, a was looking forward to seeing what Team Bondi did next. This was such an ambitious design, and they really nailed it. Surprised to hear they're going bankrupt. At least it sounds like the company behind the groundbreaking tech responsible for the facial animations will be unaffected, so hopefully we'll see other games utilizing that in the future.
  • Shame. Game was fun and im sure the problems it had would have been sorted in LA Noire 2.
  • That's disgusting. Such a successful game was LA Noire, and to see them go under THREE MONTHS LATER is a travesty. Imagine how different the video gaming world would be if Nintendo folded three months after making Super Mario Bros.
  • @26 I want to live in a world where Nintendo didn't exist and you do realize that nintendo was around and being successful way before they decided to do video games.
  • @12 it was a joke and Activision to charge for online soon. CoD Elite anyone?
  • Please let me clarify -- Activision had and has NOTHING to do with this game. I said it as a joke because Bobby Kotick ruins everything else so I was just blaming him. Kind of like blaming Eminem and Marilyn Manson for teen suicide or George W for ruining our country...wait he really did ruin our country. Bottom line I liked this game and the tech had potential for upcoming games. Very sad what is happening not only for Team Bondi but for most devs and creators. I just hope this all levels out and all the people giving up their time to make great games for us to play find other jobs.
  • I guess if someone has to go under, let it be Team Bondi. This game only succeeded because of Rockstar. The workers will be fine with a game like LA Noire on their resumes.
  • They want us to believe that Team Bondi is no more, just so they can clear their turd infested reputation, and continue their work at KMM. I'm not buying it, although a merge or this so-called bankruptcy has the same outcome anyway.
  • So many Developers who make decent games are going into administration these days, It's a saddening thing to see considering Certain developers are still going strong after churning out complete shit year after year.
  • @1 why blame activision if your going to blame someone even though this isnt a devs fault blame ea
  • Good Job I Left Before They Did :-D
  • @27 - I know this is months late, but you realize that if Nintendo didn't make games that a majority of how gaming turned out probably wouldn't have happened? Nintendo is the only reason PlayStation exists (they were making it with Sony, and then Nintendo pulled out to make N64 instead, so Sony finished it on their own) and I can guarantee if PlayStation didn't exist, Xbox wouldn't exist (since its purpose was competing). Whether you like Nintendo or not, they are almost the sole reason games bounced back to being popular and pushed several genres to be what they are now. I'm pretty sure, if Nintendo didn't do games and keep at it, gaming would be restricted to computers and arcades. And be a lot different.
  • You need to register before being able to post comments

Game navigation