IGN has published a massive exposé on the troubled development history of L.A. Noire. Assembled from the testimonies of eleven former Team Bondi employees, the story paints a picture of a completely dysfunctional workplace, where demoralised and underpaid devs were worked like expendable slaves under the erratic and 'abusive' rule of studio head Brendan McNamara, a man one former employee described as 'the angriest person he'd ever met.'

The hours were long, too – those interviewed complained of work weeks that would stretch to 110 hours.

McNamara is unapologetic.

There was simply an expectation that you'd work overtime and weekends. I was told that I was taking the piss by saying that I couldn't give every single one of my weekends away. We were looked at as a disposable resource, basically. If you weren't in the 'inner circle' you were just a resource to be burned through.

Their attitude is: “it's a privilege to work for us, and if you can't hack it, you should leave.” I heard one of the upper echelons say pretty much that. I thought it was disgusting. I don't understand how they can't see that maintaining talent would actually be good for them.

McNamara's explosive temper was another common complaint.

It's one thing for him to be angry behind closed doors, but it was incredibly common for him to scream at whoever was pissing him off in the middle of the office.

In compiling the article, journalist Andrew McMillen also spoke extensively with McNamara himself – and he doesn't seem to deny any of the criticism levelled against him.

It's a gripping read – you can read the article in full by clicking here.

Readers are invited to comment on whether the game was worth all that human suffering in the comments.