The entire staff of the game publisher/developer Annapurna Interactive has simultaneously resigned on their own accord. The reason for this was unsuccessful negotiations on the spin-off into a separate unit, Bloomberg reports.
Директор Annapurna Interactive Натан Гері та його команда вели переговори про виділення ігрового підрозділу в окрему компанію. Після відмови від засновників Annapurna Pictures Натан Гері та інші керівники подали у відставку, за ними пішли близько двох десятків інших співробітників.
"“All 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive team collectively resigned,’’ says the former director of the company. “All 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive team collectively resigned,’’
A spokesperson for Annapurna Pictures confirmed that the gaming division had approached the company to consider the possibility of creating a separate company, but "the parties failed to reach an agreement."
According to Annapurna Pictures founder Megan Ellison (daughter of Oracle founder and chairman Larry Ellison), this event will not affect existing agreements with game developers on the release of games. A new director of the gaming division has already been appointed and recruitment is underway.
In 2022, the People Make Games YouTube channel published an investigation about Annapurna. Indie developers who had worked with the company reported the toxic behavior of Annapurna's founders, and the management of the game division sided with the founders in all disputes.
In connection with the recent news about the cooperation between Remedy Entertainment and Annapurna, Remedy's communications director Thomas Puha explained that the dismissal of Annapurna Interactive employees will not affect the studio's plans.
Many of you are reaching out about the news around Annapurna (sorry to see what is going on to all involved ) Interactive. Thank you for your care! Remedy's deal for Control 2, including Alan Wake and Control AV rights, is with Annapurna Pictures, and we are self-publishing…
— Thomas Puha (@RiotRMD) September 13, 2024
"Many of you are reaching out about the news around Annapurna (sorry to see what is going on to all involved ) Interactive. Thank you for your care! Remedy's deal for Control 2, including Alan Wake and Control AV rights, is with Annapurna Pictures, and we are self-publishing Control 2. (I hope I made sense; its 5am in Finland and I'm jet lagged)," the statement said.
That is, Remedy Entertainment cooperates with Annapurna Picture, not with Annapurna Interactive, which is part of the parent company. So there will be movies or TV series based on Control and Alan Wake, and Control 2 is fine.