The entire staff of video game publisher Annapurna Interactive has reportedly resigned. The company – part of billionaire film producer Megan Ellison’s Annapurna empire – had been negotiating with its owner to spin off as an independent entity. According to Bloomberg Jason Schreier those talks broke down, prompting CEO Nathan Gary and about two dozen other employees to resign.
A spokesperson for Annapurna Interactive confirmed that there were talks about a potential spin-off that fell through. “Our highest priority is to continue to support our development and publishing partners through this transformation,” Ellison said in a statement. “We are committed not only to our current games offering, but also to expanding our presence in the interactive space as we continue to explore opportunities for a more integrated approach to linear and interactive storytelling across film and television, games and theater.”
Naturally, this will have a huge impact on game developers who have signed publishing deals with the studio. Upcoming games the company plans to release include Wanderstop, a cozy teahouse tycoon with a obscure twist, and Mixtape, another game from the creators of The Artful Escape.
Hector Sanchez was named CEO and apparently assured partners that all existing agreements would be honored and departing employees would be replaced. But it is understood that replacing the entire team will take time – and ultimately lead to massive disruption.
Annapurna Interactive has made a name for itself in incubating high-profile indie projects, including Outer Wilds and Stray, to name just two. Outgoing CEO Gary spent over a decade of his career at Sony’s Santa Monica studio, where he was instrumental in seeing incubated projects like Journey and The Unfinished Swan through to completion.
