Earlier in the month, we learned that Stray and Neon White publisher Annapurna Interactive’s entire staff resigned after a dispute with boss Megan Ellison.
Reported by Bloomberg as a disagreement over attempts to "spin off the video-game division as an independent entity," the details were nonetheless somewhat scant.
A new report from Rebekah Valentine at IGN has since shed some more light on the walkout, which reportedly involved “disagreements over the direction of the Interactive division, chaotic departures, communication breakdowns, and a perceived lack of leadership transparency.” It’s a thorough account of some messy events I recommend reading in full, but here’s a brief rundown.
Prior to 2024, write IGN, tensions were already present. Opinions of Ellison within Annapurna Interactive "varied from indifference to latent mistrust given previous reports on her behavior toward employees," with anonymous sources citing "a strong fear of reprisal from Ellison in particular, given her resources, history, and reach." Still, IGN also reports that work at Annapurna Interactive was "business-as usual" up until mid-March of this year, when employees were "suddenly informed" that co-founder and Annapurna Pictures CEO James Masi had been let go, causing a shake-up that reached right up to Annapurna president Nathan Gary.
Annapurna claim that Ellison "reinstalled Gary as head of Interactive, and deemed Masi’s role unnecessary" - only for Gary to also leave the company around the same time.