Annapurna Interactive, the gaming division of Megan Ellison’s Annapurna, has collapsed.
The indie publisher, known primarily for puzzle games, gained widespread recognition in 2022 with the release of Stray, an adventure game developed by BlueTwelve Studios where players control a cat navigating the world through platforming which took the gaming community by storm.
Annapurna Interactive has imploded unexpectedly, with its entire staff resigning en masse after multiple failed attempts to convince Megan Ellison to spin off the gaming division into an independent subsidiary. The mass exodus occurred immediately after negotiations with Ellison broke down.
According to Bloomberg, the senior leadership team, including president Nathan Gary, along with the more than 20-person staff, have all resigned following Gary’s departure.
This development casts a massive shadow of uncertainty over the status of active deals and partnerships Annapurna Interactive had with indie titles. While a spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company would retain all existing games and projects, the future of Annapurna and its unreleased titles remains unclear.
The situation has thrown developers working with Annapurna into disarray, with many now scrambling to determine if their publishing agreements are still intact.
Earlier this year, Stanley Parable co-creator Davey Wreden announced Wanderstop, a subversive, not-so-cozy shop management simulator, with boutique publisher Annapurna Interactive. According to Wreden, development is still moving full steam ahead, as he tweeted, ‘Nothing’s gonna stop us from getting Wanderstop out the door very soon.’
C418, the infamous composer for Minecraft now scoring Wanderstop, echoed this sentiment, reassuring fans that ‘We’re fine, and our game is doing just fine!
Meanwhile, Remedy Entertainment, known for the recent release of Alan Wake 2, a title developed in collaboration with Sweet Baby Inc and featuring a White-to-Black race-swapped protagonist has yet to recoup its development costs despite manufactured acclaim at Geoff Keighley’s ESG Award show last year.
With financial struggles persisting, Remedy entered a deal with Annapurna to help shoulder development costs for the upcoming Control sequel, while also planning to bring some of their franchises to TV and film.
Despite the hopes of those rooting for the downfall of DEI supporters and ESG advocates, Annapurna Interactive’s temporary collapse won’t affect Remedy at all. Remedy self-publishes its own games and only made a co-financing deal with Annapurna Pictures, its game publishing division undergoing new management won’t change a thing.
As for how this situation will unfold, it’s anyone’s guess. The gaming industry, particularly in the West, often operates like a revolving door, with layoffs now occurring every week.
Annapurna Interactive’s 20 or so departing employees were swiftly replaced as part of a contingency plan. Hector Sanchez, who originally launched the division in 2016, departed and then returned prior to the recent departures. He has now been named President of Interactive and New Media, replacing Nathan Gary.
Much like the purge at Kotaku that led to the voluntary resignation of its staff, including the Editor-in-Chief, only to be quickly replaced while the site’s propagandists continue to fuel progressive rage-bait to this day, Annapurna Interactive faced a similar exodus.
Although the publisher wasn’t particularly large or notorious, watching their entire staff walk out over the prospect of remaining a subsidiary is remarkable. It highlights the ongoing struggle for creative independence within corporate structures, as major gaming companies across the U.S., Europe, and Japan fast-track their own decline by adhering to Western social initiatives.
This fixation on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) criteria not just in hiring but in the products they create, combined with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards to secure funding from BlackRock’s hedge funds, signals a larger shift.
That said, there’s little reason to worry about Annapurna Interactive’s future. The publisher mainly focused on releasing small, abstract indie games by up-and-coming developers. With only about 24 employees walking out, their staff wasn’t bloated like actual Western development studios. In all likelihood, they’ll resume operations as if nothing happened in a very short period of time.
