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Annapurna Video-Game Team Resigns, Leaving Partners Scrambling

Megan Ellison-led firm sees staffers quit after spinoff talks fail.

www.bloomberg.com

The entire staff of Annapurna Interactive, the video-game publishing division of Megan Ellison’s Annapurna studio, resigned this month following a dispute with its owner, according to people familiar with the situation.

Annapurna Interactive President Nathan Gary and his team had been negotiating with Ellison, the daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison, to spin off the video-game division as an independent entity, said the people, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to share the information with the press. When Ellison pulled out of the negotiations, Gary and other executives resigned and were followed by around two dozen other staffers.

A spokesperson for Annapurna confirmed that it had explored a spinoff and said the parties failed to reach an agreement, which led to the resignations.

"Our top priority is continuing to support our developer and publishing partners during this transition,” Ellison said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “We’re committed to not only our existing slate of games but also expanding our presence in the interactive space as we continue to look for opportunities to take a more integrated approach to linear and interactive storytelling across film and TV, gaming, and theater."

The exodus has led to chaos as game developers partnered with Annapurna try to figure out what this means for their upcoming projects. As a publisher, Annapurna is responsible not only for funding the games but for handling services such as quality-assurance, adapting the products for local markets and marketing. Over the past few days, game makers working with Annapurna have scrambled to find new points of contact and figure out whether the company will continue to honor its agreements.


The spokesperson said that all existing games and projects will remain under Annapurna.

New president Hector Sanchez has told developers that the company will honor existing contracts and replace staff who have left, according to the people who spoke with Bloomberg. Sanchez, originally a co-founder of Annapurna Interactive, was brought back last month.

Annapurna’s video-game division has developed a reputation for publishing critically acclaimed titles made by small teams, racking up awards with games such as Outer Wilds, Stray and Cocoon. Last month it announced a deal to partner with the Finnish gaming company Remedy Entertainment to bring the critically acclaimed Control and Alan Wake franchises to film and TV.

The Hollywood Reporter said earlier that Annapurna Interactive’s top executives had quit but not that the entire team had departed.

 

[Draugoth]

The entire staff of Annapurna Interactive resigned this month following a dispute with its owner.

"A spokesperson for Annapurna confirmed that it had explored a spinoff and said the parties failed to reach an agreement, which led to the resignations."

"The spokesperson said that all existing games and projects will remain under Annapurna."

 

[BennyBlanco]

Sheesh. Can’t lay me off if I lay myself off.

 

[adamsapple]

Sheesh. Can’t lay me off if I lay myself off.

And Remedy just signed a multi-project deal with them

 

[Chuck Berry]

Didnt they just hook up with Remedy?

 

[MayauMiao]

More job losses?

 

[DryvBy]

Personally, nothing of value was lost here. Stray sucks, Cocoon sucks, and Outer Wilds was just ok.

 

[pqueue]

And Remedy just signed a multi-project deal with them

Given that Remedy projects barely break even (AW2 still hasn't), this may be a win for Annapurna

 

[Gambit2483]

 

[adamsapple]

Personally, nothing of value was lost here. Stray sucks, Cocoon sucks, and Outer Wilds was just ok.

 

[near]

Whaaaat!?! This is awful news.

 

[mckmas8808]

Hold on..........they quit?

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Hold the fuck on

Will this affect another Stray coming out?

I need another Stray. Don't fuck with me, man!

 

[ReBurn]

More job losses?

Sounds like they gave their jobs back because they didn't want them any more.

 

[simpatico]

Looking at their wiki. I wonder how profitable they are? Doesn't look overwhelmingly so to me. Cocoon was a turd. But hey if there was ever a time to add a DLC wave mode to Stray it would be right now.

 

[The Dead Flag Blues]

I guess the new Blade Runner game is dead then?

 

[TGO]

So that's the Silent Hill Townfall game cancelled

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Hold the fuck on

Will this affect another Stray coming out?

I need another Stray. Don't fuck with me, man!

Annapurna will re-staff by hiring all the former Firewalk devs and make another Stray, don’t worry.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Annapurna will re-staff by hiring all the former Firewalk devs and make another Stray, don’t worry.

BRB

 

[Wooxsvan]

i guess they have enough saved to enjoy a vacation for a year

 

[touchfuzzy]

It says they all resigned guys, not that they were fired. It's not like these are all developers, they'll be easily replaced from the pool of thousands that have been laid off in the industry recently.

 

[bender]

Looking at their wiki. I wonder how profitable they are? Doesn't look overwhelmingly so to me. Cocoon was a turd. But hey if there was ever a time to add a DLC wave mode to Stray it would be right now.

That's probably my favorite game of theirs. The design just fascinates me. It was a little bit too easy, but I think without all the guard rails in place, the puzzle would have broken most people's brains.

 

[RodriGames40]

 

[Hookshot]

And that’s why you should always use the correct pronouns.

 

[NeverYouMind]

So that's the Silent Hill Townfall game cancelled

It was the only new one I was looking forward to.

 

[BennyBlanco]

And Remedy just signed a multi-project deal with them

I forgot about that. Damn.

 

[Kronark]

That's probably my favorite game of theirs. The design just fascinates me. It was a little bit too easy, but I think without all the guard rails in place, the puzzle would have broken most people's brains.

I was waiting for the brain breaking. I signed up for the brain breaking. Instead nearly two hours in I hadn't spent more than 30-60 seconds on a "puzzle" and was like 3 boss fights in. I said screw it and refunded. Cocoon deserved to flop.

 

[IntentionalPun]

The company still exists and has a new head, who was brought in last month.

Possible it all crashes and burns but also possible the team can be replaced. We aren’t talking about that many people and the original co-founder is back in charge so will have connections.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I bet they tried to unionize

 

[Bojji]

Personally, nothing of value was lost here. Stray sucks, Cocoon sucks, and Outer Wilds was just ok.

WTF? Stray is amazing (I didn't play the rest of them).

 

[near]

And Remedy just signed a multi-project deal with them

I don't think this will really affect Remedy much. Their deal was a financial one that extends with Annapurna Pictures to produce film and TV projects. Remedy didn't announce a publishing deal with Annapurna Interactive for Control 2 or Alan Wake.

 

[LoveCake]

It seems a strange one this does, why would the staff want the company to be spun-off?
The owner isn't interested in making money!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Ellison#Approach_to_production

 

[DryvBy]

WTF? Stray is amazing (I didn't play the rest of them).

It's a 2 hour simple game for $30. And you guys are on here complaining about MTX?

 

[DAHGAMING]

Aparently its because the guvnor wouldnt let them put tampons in the male toilets.

 

[Skifi28]

I wish my department could organise and just walk off one day. The look on the manager's face....this is what dreams are made of.

 

[IntentionalPun]

It's a 2 hour simple game for $30. And you guys are on here complaining about MTX?

It’s a 2 hour game most people got with a sub they were already paying for. (PS+ basic or whether they are calling it now)

 

[Robochobo]

Aparently its because the guvnor wouldnt let them put tampons in the male toilets.

 

[Draugoth]

 

[adamsapple]

Yeah I'm sure it was hard, but what exactly led to it...

 

[Punished Miku]

Wow, that's pretty insane. They're basically the top indie publisher out there.

 

[Pimpollo818]

bye

 

[Last Hearth]

Isn’t Annapurna ran by a billionaire’s daughter who gave it to her as basically a toy to play with, lost tons of money, but daddy keeps paying the bills?

 

[Magic Carpet]

What Remains of fill in the blank jokes aside this is devastating news.
They make small games I really like.

 

[Alebrije]

Rumor says they asked for a PS5 PRO for.each of the staff and that was the break point.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Oh well. At least the severance payouts will be $0.

 

[buenoblue]

I think Annapurna are just publishers. Games like Stray and Cocoon are developed by different studios. This still seems bad though as Annapurna has the name to get games in the spotlight.

 

[M1chl]

Oh no, Control 2 : (

 

[rapid32.5]

They better stop fucking around with Control 2. Stray was amazing. Join Sam Lake to remedy the situation.

 

[near]

It won't be easy for Annapurna Interactive to recover from this. It isn't as simple as hiring new staff. Existing projects could be delayed as a result, confidence and brand loyalty with current partners will be impacted. Years of building connections with indie studios and developing a reputation leaves with those staff members. This will have a lasting impact, tragic news for fans of the games they've managed to publish. I also wonder how many of those staff members were developing Blade Runner as that was going to be the first in-house developed and published project.

 

[Topher]

And Remedy just signed a multi-project deal with them

Didnt they just hook up with Remedy?