Development stories behind Australia-based Team Bondi's LA Noir was faced with numerous controversies after Rockstar published the title in 2011. Reports of high turnover rates, lack of overtime compensation and horrid working conditions essentially soured its relationship with the Grand Theft Auto publisher.
Team Bondi's follow-up Whore or the Orient would face its own problems with massive layoffs and original publisher Warner Brothers Interactive backing out before finding a new home at multimedia production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell.
According to Game Informer, Whore of the Orient is receiving help from through the New South Wales' Interactive Media Fund in the form of sum of $200,000. Handling the funding is Screen NSW, an Australian government organization that handles filming and related activities in and around the area.
Recent news proves that development on the LA Noir follow-up is still underway.
MCV reported in April that the team handling Whore of the Orient was shut down leading KMM's Doug Mitchell to lend the publication his response.
"Whore of the Orient is a unique and extraordinary story and game and we are still actively pursuing the right investor to partner with," said Mitchell.
Before shutting down into a landing page for LA Noir, Team Bondi's site had a simple description of Whore of the Orient.
"Shanghai, 1936. Whore of the Orient. Paris of the East. The most corrupt and decadent city on the planet, where anything can be had or done for the right price. Playthings of Western powers who greedily exploit the Chinese masses. Boiling pot of Chinese nationalism, with Kuomintang ruthlessly trying to suppress Communism and the labor movement. Home to the International Police Force, a group of Western cops hopelessly trying to keep the lid on and keep the peace."
Ironically, a second recipient of the New South Wales' Interactive Media Fund was Intuitive Game Studios which was founded by former Team Bondi employees. Initiative Game Studios is currently working on a "thrilling interactive detective game" entitled Canonical Five.
