Annapurna Interactive staff resign after failed spin-off talks

Annapurna Interactive, the company behind popular games like Stray and Neon White, has reportedly lost all its employees after a dispute with its owner Megan Ellison. The report states that the resignations happened after spin-off negotiations failed.

Allegedly, the internal disagreement started between Annapurna Interactive President Nathan Gary and the head of the studio Megan Ellison. This conflict involved Gary and his team’s push for the video game division to become an independent entity. However, Ellison backed out of the negotiations, which led to the resignation of around 25 people including President Gary and other executives.

Annapurna Interactive staff resign after spin-off talks stall

In a joint declaration, Gary and the Annapurna Interactive team revealed the kind of difficulty they have had in reaching that decision. The team described it as one of the hardest decisions they had to make noting that they didn’t take it lightly.

All 25 team members chose to resign from the company after Ellison backed out from the talks to spin off the division. The disagreement marked the climax of the internal strife that had been plaguing the company regarding its future course.

Megan Ellison, the daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison, has been overseeing the Annapurna Interactive company under the wider scope of Annapurna Pictures.

Despite the sudden resignation of the personnel from her video game division, Ellison said that the company still intended to fulfill some of its ongoing game projects. She also suggested there would be other developments, more particularly in the interactive entertainment sphere, with an emphasis on integrating storytelling across various platforms, including film, television, and gaming.

Annapurna’s new president vows to uphold contracts

The resignation of Gary has led to the appointment of Hector Sanchez, one of the co-founders of Annapurna Interactive, to the position of president. Sanchez has reportedly reassured developers and partners that Annapurna will continue to honor existing contracts with developers and partners, whatever changes there might be in staff.

Sanchez further stated that the company is looking forward to hiring replacements for the employees who resigned so that there will be appropriate resources for these projects in conduct.

Annapurna Interactive has gained prominence for publishing critically acclaimed indie games and its recent departure of employees raised questions among the developers and the followers of the company as to what the future holds for the publisher.

Some Annapurna-published developers, however, have assured fans that these changes within the company will not affect their projects. Davey Wreden, Director of Wanderstop, took it to Twitter to clarify that his team is ‘100% okay’ and their new title remains on schedule.

Just for the folks asking, we are 100% okay. Nothing's gonna stop us from getting Wanderstop out the door very soon.???? https://t.co/qGGYT9PVqX— Davey Wreden (@HelloCakebread) September 12, 2024

This internal disagreement occurred at an unfortunate time for Annapurna, which has recently joined forces with Remedy Entertainment to finance projects such as Control 2 and adaptations of Alan Wake for TV and film. The company has also been progressing in combining its specialization in gaming and film production, with an emphasis on interactive storytelling.