What you need to know
- Annapurna Interactive is a gaming publisher that's been responsible for publishing numerous titles like What Remains of Edith Finch, Outer Wilds, Kentucky Route Zero, and Stray.
- Per a report from Bloomberg, Annapurna Interactive's entire team left the company after a dispute with the owner.
- The dispute came about after failed negotiations for Annapurna Interactive to be spun out from parent company Annapurna.
Publisher Annapurna Interactive's entire staff have left the company.
That's according to a report from Bloomberg, which indicates that the staff departed following a dispute with owner Megan Ellison, who had been in discussions with Annapurna Interactive president Nathan Gary to spin out Annapurna Interactive as a separate unit from its parent company, Annapurna. After Ellison left negotiations, Gary resigned, followed by the entirety of the publisher's staff.
"Our top priority is continuing to support our developer and publishing partners during this transition,” Ellison said in a statement given to Bloomberg. “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."
It's unclear what this means at the moment for Annapurna Interactive's lineup of upcoming games, such as DINOGOD's Bounty Star, as gaming publishers generally need staff in order to publish the games. According to Bloomberg, Annapurna Interactive's new president of Interactive and New Media, Hector Sanchez, plans to hire in order to replace the team members that have departed.
This also comes shortly after Remedy Entertainment reached a deal for Annapurna to produce film and TV versions of Alan Wake and Control, while Annapurna Interactive would be helping to finance Control 2. Per Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, this is a separate deal that is not affected by the current chaos unfolding at Annapurna Interactive.
Annapurna Interactive was founded in 2016 and focused on publishing a number of titles from studios across the industry, including Cardboard Computer's Southern Gothic narrative tale Kentucky Route Zero, Mobius Digital's spacefaring story Outer Wilds, and Geometric Interactive's puzzle adventure Cocoon.
Analysis: The power of walking out
This situation is undoubtedly frustrating for Annapurna Interactive's partners, yet I have to admit respect seeing a team back up its president and supporting them by resigning.
The gaming industry is in a tumultuous place right now, but workers are realizing more and more that they hold power. Independent publishers and platform holders alike would likely do well to keep that fact in mind as time goes on.
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