Annapurna Interactive Exodus Sees Entire Staff Resign | Push Square
Update: A spokesperson for Annapurna has reached out to us to point out that Hector Sanchez is the President of Interactive and New Media at Annapurna, and has not replaced Nathan Gary as the president of Annapurna Interactive, as previously reported.
Original Article: The entire staff of video game publisher Annapurna Interactive has reportedly resigned. The label – part of billionaire film producer Megan Ellison’s Annapurna empire – had been negotiating with its owner to spin-off as its own independent entity. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier these talks broke down, prompting president Nathan Gary and around two dozen other staff to resign.
A spokesperson for Annapurna Interactive confirmed discussions had taken place over a potential spin-off, which had failed. “Our top priority is continuing to support our developer and publishing partners during this transition,” said Ellison in a statement. “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 theatre.”
Naturally, this will have a huge impact on game developers who’ve signed publishing partnerships with the studio. Upcoming games scheduled to be published by the company include Wanderstop, the cosy tea shop tycoon with a dark twist, and Mixtape, the next game from the makers of The Artful Escape.
Hector Sanchez has been appointed the role of president, and has apparently ensured partners that all existing contracts will be honoured and departed staff will be replaced. But understandably, replacing the entire team will take time – and will ultimately result in enormous disruption.
Annapurna Interactive has developed a name for helping to incubate prestige indie projects, including Outer Wilds and Stray, to name just two. Departing president Gary spent over ten years of his career at Sony’s Santa
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