Why did Annapurna Interactive staff resign?

In a surprising turn of events, renowned game publisher Annapurna Interactive recently saw a mass resignation of every single staff member. Given the company's pedigree for releasing some beloved indie gems, this is a surprise for both fans and game developers. Studio partners in particular are affected most adversely, as this move jeopardizes any projects they currently have in the works.

So what happened? And what does this incident mean going forward? Here are all the details to know about why Annapurna Interactive staff resigned in unison.

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Annapurna Interactive staff left due to disputes with company CEO

While there was some confusion when the news broke, Bloomberg reached out for the details so all sides could have some clarity. In a nutshell, the Annapurna Interactive team stepped down after failing to agree with Annapurna founder Megan Ellison.

As per the Bloomberg report, Annapurna Interactvie's president Nathan Gary had been negotiating with Ellison alongside the team to discuss plans for the company to spin off and go independent. Ellison, however, seemed to have backed out, and in retaliation, the staff resigned. This is fairly worrisome for game developers.

As a publisher, the company has partnered with various studios that have game launches in the pipeline. Since they handle various aspects of the non-development side, like financing, localization, and marketing, developers are left scrambling to find other publishers who will help them reach their goals.

That said, we are not entirely left in the dark. A spokesperson for Annapurna Interactive said that all current projects will remain under the studio as new hires will replace the staff who left. Following Gary's departure, Hector Sanchez is now the new president of Annapurna Interactive and, interestingly, was also the co-founder of the company before leaving for Epic Games.

All in all, this was a tough decision for the ex-employees for sure, however, fans may rest assured that they will likely not have to worry about upcoming Annapurna games getting delayed or canceled. After all, the company is known for publishing many fantastic indie titles, such as Sayonara Wild Hearts, Stray, Journey, and more.

Much fan concern was centered around Remedy Entertainment's upcoming project Control 2. The next-gen sequel to the beloved supernatural shooter is being co-funded by Annapurna. However, it is under the main Pictures division and not the video game label. As such, Remedy fans need not worry either.