Annapurna Interactive, which launched in 2016 and has published a large number of acclaimed indie games, is reportedly in a crisis situation. Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, says that the entire staff of the publisher departed the company today.
The story says that about 25 staff members at the company, including its president Nathan Gary, decided to resign en masse. The reason, according to the article, is that Gary and the other team members were in talks to spin off the publisher away from its parent Annapurna, which is owned by Megan Ellison. However, Bloomberg says Ellison decided to no longer engage in these talks, so most of the staff decided to leave. In a statement to Bloomberg, Gary said, "This was one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make and we did not take this action lightly.”
IGN reports that Hector Sanchez, a co-founder of Annapurna Interactive who later worked at Epic Games, was recently rehired by the company. With the departure of Gary, Sanchez is now its new president.
Annapurna Interactive has a number of upcoming games that it is supposed to publish. IGN reports that Sanchez has been speaking to the development teams of these titles, telling them they will continue to support their games, and also hire a number of new people to take the place of those who resigned.
In her own statement to Bloomberg, Ellison stated:
Our top priority is continuing to support our developer and publishing partners during this transition. 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.
This news comes just a couple of weeks after it was announced that Annapurna Interactive would co-finance Remedy's Control 2 game. Annapurna was also supposed to help develop TV shows and movies based on Remedy's Control and Alan Wake games.
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