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Team Bondi goes into administration

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  • 01-09-2011 10:23am
    #1
    gizmo
    Registered Users Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭


    It was coming like a freight train but it's finally hit. :(

    Link

    EDIT: The :( is for the employees by the way, neither McNamara & co nor their bull**** working practices will be missed by anyone I'd wager.


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    #2
    Snowie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,048 ✭✭✭✭Snowie


    Why are you said for employes ?
    They'le all get jobs they produced a cracker off a game....

    appart from management. Tho i do quote rockstar in saying that the mangement were a bunch of donkeys.....

    Tho its looking like KMM studios may Acquire team bondi

    besides I think in ways its a good thing considering the ****e some of the people had to put up with never ending crunch rude abrasive team leaders who had about as much as social skills as an alchaolic head chef.


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    #3
    Retr0gamer
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,989 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    There's not too many game development jobs in Australia so if they do get jobs, those that settled down with familys will have to move.

    Also it's not that easy getting a job in this economy and games development is kind of flooded with graduates.
    Untitled Image




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    #4
    johnny_ultimate
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 29,219 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    A shame - thought LA Noire showed potential amongst its plethora of flaws. Would still like to see an improved sequel.

    But reading all the stuff about McNamara and co's work practices left a really sour taste. People shouldn't be able to get away with treating their employees like crap. And maybe they won't going by this news. The upper management may deserve it, the employees don't.


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    #5
    gizmo
    Registered Users Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    Why are you said for employes ?
    They'le all get jobs they produced a cracker off a game....
    What Retr0gamer said plus it'll probably mean that those who were due to be paid bonuses for that overtime they worked may not get it now, nevermind those who were due holiday pay in lieu of the time off they wouldn't have been able to take during crunch.

    There has been some sources saying that some employees have been offered either severance or a job at KMM but again, no word on whether this true or not.
    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    Tho its looking like KMM studios may Acquire team bondi
    At this stage that is quite unlikely to happen, especially considering the reputation management have earned the company. If anything KMM would just take the company assets and some employees and just fold Team Bondi.
    johnny_ultimate wrote: »
    A shame - thought LA Noire showed potential amongst its plethora of flaws. Would still like to see an improved sequel.
    Oh there'll be a sequel, it just won't be made by Team Bondi.


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    #6
    Retr0gamer
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,989 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    It's very telling that there were severe problems with the company since Rockstar washed their hands of them instead of scooping them up into the rockstar family.
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    #7
    NotorietyH
    Registered Users Posts: 2,509 ✭✭✭NotorietyH


    Retr0gamer wrote: »
    It's very telling that there were severe problems with the company since Rockstar washed their hands of them instead of scooping them up into the rockstar family.

    Especially considering Rockstar don't exactly have a fantastic reputation themselves as employers.


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    #8
    Snowie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,048 ✭✭✭✭Snowie


    gizmo wrote: »
    What Retr0gamer said plus it'll probably mean that those who were due to be paid bonuses for that overtime they worked may not get it now, nevermind those who were due holiday pay in lieu of the time off they wouldn't have been able to take during crunch.

    But sure any job were your ona development basis your going to have crunch this is why in college you are given projects so it teachs you to do your work so your not spending 2 days crunching 5 weeks of work in...

    Its called working your payed to work you can't take your hoildays because your in the development of a game or anything else thats the way, the cookie crumbles... Yes they may come of some what of a hard ass atitude and it could be consider bad manegment.. But infinity ward did the same...
    There has been some sources saying that some employees have been offered either severance or a job at KMM but again, no word on whether this true or not.

    I've read them to and while it may a small amount of speculation its still possible but the rumblings are that LA noire went over budget..
    At this stage that is quite unlikely to happen, especially considering the reputation management have earned the company. If anything KMM would just take the company assets and some employees and just fold Team Bondi.

    yeah and are they going to take hot headed manegers that can't work with staff?


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    #9
    gizmo
    Registered Users Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    But sure any job were your ona development basis your going to have crunch this is why in college you are given projects so it teachs you to do your work so your not spending 2 days crunching 5 weeks of work in...
    The problem here is that the project schedules which are being set are wholly unrealistic from the start and then badly managed throughout. Make no mistake, crunch is not something which developers should accept, it is almost solely the fault of bad management whether it is misjudging your team size, experience, tech or simply setting an unrealistic deadline for a project given its scale. There's a myriad of excellent articles and postmortems out there, especially on the likes of Gamasutra, which go into more detail on this, I'd recommend reading some of them, they're quite enlightening. :)
    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    Its called working your payed to work you can't take your hoildays because your in the development of a game or anything else thats the way, the cookie crumbles... Yes they may come of some what of a hard ass atitude and it could be consider bad manegment.. But infinity ward did the same...
    It is bad management, plain and simple. What does Infinity Ward doing it have to do with anything? Are you saying they should be used as a yardstick for how studios should be run? :confused:
    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    I've read them to and while it may a small amount of speculation its still possible but the rumblings are that LA noire went over budget..
    Rumblings? I would have thought it was blindly obvious LA Noire went way over budget. If its incredibly prolonged development time wasn't obvious enough, the internal emails which leaked claiming that it would be released back in 2009 should indicate how unrealistic they were being even to their own staff.
    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    yeah and are they going to take hot headed manegers that can't work with staff?
    You mean McNamara? I'd imagine he was the first one to sign a contract.


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    #10
    Snowie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,048 ✭✭✭✭Snowie


    gizmo wrote: »
    The problem here is that the project schedules which are being set are wholly unrealistic from the start and then badly managed throughout. Make no mistake, crunch is not something which developers should accept, it is almost solely the fault of bad management whether it is misjudging your team size, experience, tech or simply setting an unrealistic deadline for a project given its scale. There's a myriad of excellent articles and postmortems out there, especially on the likes of Gamasutra, which go into more detail on this, I'd recommend reading some of them, they're quite enlightening. :)

    I think i shall take that up :)
    It is bad management, plain and simple. What does Infinity Ward doing it have to do with anything? Are you saying they should be used as a yardstick for how studios should be run? :confused:


    Good god know point being there were similier issues. with infinty ward were a number of devlelopers upped and left... because they wernt being treated right or was that activsion
    Rumblings? I would have thought it was blindly obvious LA Noire went way over budget. If its incredibly prolonged development time wasn't obvious enough, the internal emails which leaked claiming that it would be released back in 2009 should indicate how unrealistic they were being even to their own staff.


    Did you read the rock star internal one :D?
    You mean McNamara? I'd imagine he was the first one to sign a contract

    Id agree

    but
    Team Bondi staff are currently being offered either new positions at digital production studio Kennedy Miller Mitchell, or redundancy.
    That's according to a report by Develop, which claims that both intellectual property and assets belonging to Team Bondi have been sold to KMM, a Sydney studio currently working on penguin blockbuster Happy Feet 2.
    So far the L.A. Noire developer has failed to comment on rumours and no legal paper work has been filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission detailing any sell-off or change in the business.
    The news follows rumours that Team Bondi boss Brendan McNamara had visited KMM to strike a deal with the production company.
    In July leaked emails from Team Bondi highlighted poor working conditions at the studio, with developers forced to crunch in order to complete L.A. Noire - a game that had been in development for seven years once it was eventually released.


    Bu if another company are going to take them on the chap is going to be watched...


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    #11
    gizmo
    Registered Users Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    Good god know point being there were similier issues. with infinty ward were a number of devlelopers upped and left... because they wernt being treated right or was that activsion
    The departures were mainly in relation to Jason West and Vince Zampalla, CTO and CEO of the company respectively, leaving to form Respawn. In the ensuing legal battle there have also been claims of unpaid royalties for staff but the finer details have yet to really emerge. The forthcoming lawsuits should sort that out though.
    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    Did you read the rock star internal one :D?
    If they were in the chain of emails between themselves and Team Bondi then yea.
    Snow-Monkey wrote: »
    Bu if another company are going to take them on the chap is going to be watched...
    Oh I'm sure he will, he still got a job out of it though and I'm sure has made a nice couple of quid from LA Noire in the meantime. :)


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    #12
    Snowie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,048 ✭✭✭✭Snowie


    gizmo wrote: »


    If they were in the chain of emails between themselves and Team Bondi then yea.


    no this was an internal email from rock star Im trying to find it now....

    Im sure hes made a ton of money, but do you think any one like that will ever get a chance to beinvolved in any big development plan...

    I think not, Rockstar as a lot of people have said arnt easy to work for, bye any means. But I've never once played a game under there publication name I didnt like that goes for la noire, but would any company really want some one like him working for them?

    after a pretty gruesome stoning


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