State of Decay producer's Possibility Space studio has reportedly shut down

eurogamer.net:

Possibility Space, the studio founded by State of Decay producer Jeff Strain, has reportedly shut down — with Strain blaming the closure on confidential leaks by employees.

Strain — who co-founded Guild Wars developer ArenaNet before establishing State of Decay developer Undead Labs in 2009 — announced the formation of Possibility Space in October 2021, describing it as a «modern kind of game studio, where we are creating a joyful game that's been my dream for many years.»

The announcement also confirmed Jane Ng — lead environment artist on Campo Santo's Firewatch, as well as an artist on Half-Life: Alyx — had joined the studio as visual director, alongside the likes of Liz England (former lead designer on Watch Dogs: Legion and designer on Sunset Overdrive) and former Waypoint editor-in-chief Austin Walker.

Beyond those early hints of the developer's «joyful» debut, no further word on the project has been shared since. And, now, a number of studio employees have taken to social media to reveal they — and all of their co-workers — have been laid off.

Strain has yet to publicly comment on the reports of Possibility Space's closure, but an email send to staff ahead of their dismissal — as shared by Polygon senior reporter Nicole Carpenter — adds a bizarre new twist to events. In the email, Strain blames the studio's closure on alleged employee leaks regarding Possibility Space's «Project Vonnegut».

«Late last week I received a list of topics from Ethan Gach, a reporter at Kotaku, regarding an article he's writing about [Possibility Space parent compnay] Prytania Media,» Strain wrote. «I was stunned to see non-public information about Project Vonnegut, disclosure of our publishing partner with details of our business and financial relationship, and details of internal P&L discussions and confidential all-company meetings.»

«Leaks of this nature are typically