The developers of LA Noire have come under fire by both the press and the game industry from recent revelations that the studio had been abusing its developers with strenuous working hours, a "dehumanizing" working environment, and unpaid overtime, so much so that Rockstar is reported to now be refusing to publish any of its future games.
According to this report, the studio is looking for "another publisher for their next title, but the relationship with Rockstar has been badly damaged—Brendan [McNamara, the studio boss] 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 L.A. Noire, and their marketing was fantastic. Without their continued support, Team Bondi would have gone under several years ago," reads the report.
The report goes on to suggest that Rockstar had even considered taking over the company at one point.
"The more they worked with Team Bondi management, the more they came to understand that this was a terrible idea."
The report concludes: "Every dog has its day and there's going to be hell to pay for this one. I'll never forget being treated like an absolute shit by these people."
