[Multi] IGDA to Investigate 'brutal' Working Conditions at L.A. Noire Studio

[Multi] IGDA to Investigate 'brutal' Working Conditions at L.A. Noire Studio

The International Game Developers Association is launching an investigation into Australian developer Team Bondi following a recent report that suggests shocking working conditions at the studio during the lengthy seven-year development of the recently-released blockbuster L.A. Noire. Several anonymous sources that claim to be former employees at Team Bondi allege in the report that they experienced 100+ hour work weeks without overtime pay, seemingly unending crunch times, excessive employee turnover rates, poor communication with management, and verbal abuse from Team Bondi founder and president Brendan McNamara.

“[But] certainly reports of 12-hour a day, lengthy crunch time, if true, are absolutely unacceptable and harmful to the individuals involved, the final product, and the industry as a whole,” said Brian Robbins, chair of the IGDA Board of Directors. “We encourage any Team Bondi employee and/or family member to email qol@igda.org with comments about the recent past and current situation - positive or negative.”

Both industry professionals and gamers have recently lashed out at McNamara, who was decidedly unapologetic and unsympathetic to employees for his studio's working practices during the development of L.A. Noire, stating that he is “not in any way upset or disappointed by what I've done, and what I've achieved. I'm not even remotely defensive about it. I think the beginnings and the ends of a game’s development are always great, and the middle is torture." He also added that "if you want to do a nine-to-five job, you [should] be in another business", and that Australian video game developers can't compete with the rest of the world "without killing yourself."

It will be interesting to see if he changes his tune following the investigation.

Written by: Mike Glubish

(This post was last modified: 06-28-2011 08:05 PM by GlueGun18.) Wiiwillrockyou

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RE: [Multi] IGDA to Investigate 'brutal' Working Conditions at L.A. Noire Studio
I can hear the investigative music clue chime from the game in my head right now... I found my wii!
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