Well. this is disheartening news. Whore of the Orient, the sequel to Team Bondi’s critically acclaimed L.A. Noire, is effectively cancelled. Team Bondi had a tough time during and after the development of L.A. Noire.

Controversy erupted over allegations of poor working conditions during crunch time for L.A. Noire, with some ex-staff members alleging that they had to work 12 hour days. After L.A. Noire can out an Australian film company, Kennedy Miller Mitchell–KMM–bought out Team Bondi, and work began on Whore of the Orient in KMM’s name. Whore of the Orient was to have been set in 1936 Shanghai, a hotbed of decadence and crime. It would have use of the same facial capture tech found in L.A. Noire. 

While Whore of the Orient is technically not cancelled, Guy Blomberg, the organiser for PAX Australia talked to ex-Producer Derek Proud, who said that though he and other execs had fought for the game, it never materialised.