Annapurna Interactive, the videogame publishing arm of Annapurna Pictures, is in some trouble right now as all of its staff members have apparently resigned following failed attempts to spin the company off.
Annapurna Interactive has built itself a reputation for publishing high-quality “indie” titles including the likes of Stray. As for Annapurna Pictures, it has produced and financed various movies such as Zero Dark Thirty, Lawless and American Hustle.
The drama has been building for a while now. Last week, Hollywoodreporter.com learned that Annapurna Interactive president Nathan Gary was stepping down and leaving the company entirely. Deborah Mars and Nathan Vella, the co-heads of the company, were also reported to be leaving. Annapurna Pictures confirmed this news on September 6.
Now however, it seems ALL of Annapurna Interactive’s staff has resigned following failed negotiations to spin-off the studio. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreir broke the news in a lengthy report. The news was then confirmed when Annapurna Pictures CEO issued a statement.
“Our top priority is continuing to support our developer and publishing partners during this transition,” Ellison told Bloomberg News. “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.”
Meanwhile, Nathan Gary and his peers also issued a brief statement, saying: “All 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive team collectively resigned. This was one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make and we did not take this action lightly.”
A new president of Annapurna Interactive has been appointed in Hector Sanchez who claims that the company will honor all existing contracts, and that staff will be replaced. Sanchez was one of Annapurna Interactive’s original co-founders when the company began in 2016.
One of the company’s who could have been affected by the sudden collapse of Annapurna Interactive is Remedy who just recently announced a deal in which Annapurna is partially funding Control 2 in return for the film and TV rights to Control and Alan Wake.
Remedy’s Communications Director Thomas Puha has already laid these concerns to rest, though. Speaking on X he states that the deal was made with Annapurna Pictures and that they are still self-publishing Control 2.
Of course, for all the other companies that have standing deals with Annapurna Interactive, this will undoubtedly be a worrying time.
It’s currently unclear as to what happened behind the scenes to cause the crumbling of Annapurna Interactive. Clearly the team there felt strongly about being spun-off from parent company Annapurna Pictures, but why? Did they feel there were issues with leadership in the parent company? Did they simply want more autonomy? Or did they not like the direction Annapurna Pictures was heading in? As the days roll on, I’m sure more information will come to light.
Over the years the Annapurna Interactive team has become one of the most beloved in the indie gaming space, often putting their names behind terrific games. While Annapurna Interactive will seemingly continue in one form or another, without the same people at the wheel will it be able to achieve the same success?
