Despite the financial success of LA Noire, reports of poor working conditions began to seep conspicuously from Sydney-based studio Team Bondi after its release, and part of the game’s development team was folded into parent production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell. It’s that team that’s been working on ‘30s Shanghai-set open world game Whore of the Orient under former Bondi head Brendan McNamara, and the same team that’s reportedly been crippled by layoffs in the face of publisher struggles.
Affected staff from KMM’s game division spoke to Kotaku, and MCV cites rumours from “multiple sources” that work has ceased on the McNamara-headed detective thriller. The extent of the layoffs remains unclear, however, and the division itself has yet to be shut down.
The developers reportedly lost publisher support from Warner Brothers in late 2012, and layoffs began in December.
Hope of a new deal has since, presumably, ended in disappointment. And yet even this month KMM were spotted advertising for alead engine programmer on a “new AAA title” – a “next gen and narrative action adventure title set in Shanghai in the 1930’s, [with] realistic setting and characters.”
What’s more, KMM’s Doug Mitchell today told MCV Pacific: “Whore of the Orient is a unique and extraordinary story and game, and we are still actively pursuing the right investor to partner with.”
Miller didn’t confirm or deny the layoffs in Sydney.
Whore of the Orient was due to release on PC and next-gen consoles and featured, McNamara told Eurogamer, “one of the great untold stories of the twentieth century”. It was likely to make use of MotionScan, the 3D performance capture tech utilising for LA Noire and developed by Bondi sister studio Depth Analysis.
Thanks, GamesIndustry.