Annapurna Interactive’s Entire Staff Has Reportedly Resigned

Summary

Annapurna Interactive's entire staff resigned after failed negotiations.
The video game industry faces layoffs and shutdowns, with Annapurna Interactive as the latest casualty of the tumultuous times.
Annapurna Interactive scrambles to refill positions and honor existing agreements.

According to insider sources, the entire staff of video game publisher Annapurna Interactive has resigned following failed negotiations with executive Megan Ellison. Annapurna Interactive has achieved great success with titles like Outer Wilds and Stray, among others, and its partnered development studios are now scrambling with an unclear future for their in-production games.

Repeated cutbacks and shutdowns have plagued the video game industry since 2023, with more and more companies announcing fresh rounds of studio layoffs for game developers and publishers alike. Even with a number of successful releases under its belt, it would seem Annapurna Interactive is the latest to face an abrupt shakeup.

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By Luke Dammann

First reported by Bloomberg, all 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive staff have resigned following a falling out in negotiations to establish the video game publisher as an independent entity. Megan Ellison, CEO of Annapurna Pictures and authority of its underlying video games division, reportedly pulled out of talks with Annapurna Interactive president Nathan Gary and other executives. Annapurna Interactive was seeking to reform itself as a spin-off studio of the Annapurna Pictures video game division. However, after negotiations failed, Gary and all other executives at Annapurna Interactive submitted their resignations and were followed by two dozen other members of the publishing studio. With a number of projects tied to Annapurna Interactive now facing uncertainty, developers are quickly looking to establish points of contact with replacement staff.

Annapurna Interactive Staff Resign After Failed Negotiations With Leadership

With Annapurna Interactive now without its staff and its parent company quickly working to refill positions, teams at some development studios are left wondering how their productions will be impacted. Several developers allege that newly appointed President of Interactive and New Media, Hector Sanchez, has assured them that all existing agreements will be honored and staffing will be reorganized. Audiences have responded to the resignations with shock and disbelief, with many wary of the studio's future.

The video game industry continues to face incredibly tumultuous times, with entire studios resigning, projects getting canned, and more layoffs announced by Microsoft and other major companies leaving thousands without work. Whether video game companies will find their footing any time soon remains to be seen, but employees and fans of Annapurna Interactive and other studios remain understandably skeptical of the industry at this time.

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