According to GI.biz, Rockstar Games will not be on board to publish Team Bondi's future titles "due to protracted development times, a lack of clear vision and mismanagement at a senior level." This comes hot on the heels at the news of the company's extreme policies on over time, withholding of pay, and more.
Internal emails given to GI.biz highlight some of the anger and resentment between Team Bondi and Rockstar Games, most notably from Team Bondi's co-founder, Brendan McNamara. He was even livid at Rockstar for a design change of L.A. Noire's logo that allegedly left off Team Bondi's branding.
The emails are quite damaging to Team Bondi's image and only serve to reinforce the validity of some of the previously assumed "rumors" surrounding the company.
"I've heard a lot about Rockstar's disdain for Team Bondi, and it has been made quite clear that they will not publish Team Bondi's next game," said an ex member of staff at the Australian studio.
"Team Bondi are trying to find another publisher for their next title, but the relationship with Rockstar has been badly damaged - Brendan treats L.A. Noire like a success due to his vision but I think Rockstar are the ones who saved the project. They continued to sink money into LA Noire, and their marketing was fantastic. Without their continued support, Team Bondi would have gone under several years ago."
"Rockstar also made a huge contribution to the development; their producers were increasingly influential over the last two years of the game's development, and overruled many of the insane decisions made by Team Bondi management," said the source.
"At a lower level, Rockstar also pitched in with programmers, animators, artists, QA, etc. Part of the conflict between Team Bondi and Rockstar was due to Rockstar's frustration with Team Bondi's direction, and eventually Team Bondi's management in turn resented Rockstar for taking lots of creative control.
"It's also worth pointing out that Rockstar used to be very keen on making Team Bondi something like 'Rockstar Sydney' - the more they worked with Team Bondi management, the more they came to understand that this was a terrible idea."
"Team Bondi are trying to find another publisher for their next title, but the relationship with Rockstar has been badly damaged - Brendan treats L.A. Noire like a success due to his vision but I think Rockstar are the ones who saved the project. They continued to sink money into LA Noire, and their marketing was fantastic. Without their continued support, Team Bondi would have gone under several years ago."
"Rockstar also made a huge contribution to the development; their producers were increasingly influential over the last two years of the game's development, and overruled many of the insane decisions made by Team Bondi management," said the source.
"At a lower level, Rockstar also pitched in with programmers, animators, artists, QA, etc. Part of the conflict between Team Bondi and Rockstar was due to Rockstar's frustration with Team Bondi's direction, and eventually Team Bondi's management in turn resented Rockstar for taking lots of creative control.
"It's also worth pointing out that Rockstar used to be very keen on making Team Bondi something like 'Rockstar Sydney' - the more they worked with Team Bondi management, the more they came to understand that this was a terrible idea."
Internal emails given to GI.biz highlight some of the anger and resentment between Team Bondi and Rockstar Games, most notably from Team Bondi's co-founder, Brendan McNamara. He was even livid at Rockstar for a design change of L.A. Noire's logo that allegedly left off Team Bondi's branding.
"Every dog has its day and there's going to be hell to pay for this one," wrote McNamara in an email intended for one designer but accidently sent to the entire team. "I'll never forget being treated like an absolute **** by these people."
The emails are quite damaging to Team Bondi's image and only serve to reinforce the validity of some of the previously assumed "rumors" surrounding the company.
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