The biggest independent video game player

The legendary indie hit label promises to keep its promises.

All Annapurna Interactive employees have resigned because they refuse to continue. A radical move, but one that shows the discontent within one of the most powerful and prestigious independent companies in the industry. The publishers of recent hits like “Stray,” “What Remains of Edith Finch,” “Outer Wilds,” and “Neon White” have put their superiors in a tough spot.

Employees of the 2016-founded Annapurna Interactive have ended negotiations with Megan Ellison, the company’s owner, because they want the company to become independent from Annapurna Pictures. Bloomberg reports that 25 Ellison employees have resigned.

Ellison assured us Annapurna’s commitments will continue: “We prioritise supporting our developer and publisher partners during this transition. We are committed to our current games and expanding our interactive presence as we look for ways to integrate linear and interactive storytelling across film, television, games, and theatre.”

This last point may explain the video game division’s disagreements with Los Angeles-based Annapurna Pictures, founded in 2011. It produced ‘The Master’, ‘Killing Them Softly’, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, ‘Her’, ‘American Hustle’, ‘Phantom Thread‘, and the Netflix animated film ‘Niimona’. ‘Forever Ago’, ‘Skin Deep’, ‘Bounty Star’, ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’, and ‘Wanderstop’ are in development.

Bloomberg reports “chaos has broken out,” despite Ellison’s claims, for Annapurna’s contracted development studios, which fund, quality control, and market games. Remedy recently signed a deal with Annapurna to adapt “Control” and “Alan Wake” for film and TV and develop “Control 2.”

Bloomberg — Nathan Gary, the long-time leader of indie video-game publisher Annapurna Interactive, attended the DICE convention in Las Vegas in February to catch up with old friends and learn about gaming news. Gary was approached by video-game industry personality Geoff Keighley at dinner with unsettling news.

Keighley told sources that he had just seen Gary’s boss Megan Ellison, the 38-year-old owner of Annapurna and daughter of billionaire Oracle Corp. Co-Founder Larry Ellison, eating in the same restaurant with a former colleague, a rival executive he had helped push out of the studio years earlier under tense circumstances. First, Gary and his group thought Keighley was joking. A second person confirmed it.

Gary had led Annapurna’s gaming division for eight years, surviving technological upheavals, a pandemic, and a decent profit year after year, even as Ellison’s movie venture failed. Ellison promoted him to company president in 2021 after seeing his team’s success.

Ellison and Gary’s former workplace rival met, which boded ill for his leadership at the firm. Within weeks, the whole thing blew up, culminating last month with Gary and 24 Ellison employees—Annapurna Interactive’s entire staff—resigning. Sept. 6 was their last.

At a time when Hollywood is focused on the Ellison family, the gaming industry is discussing the stormy saga. Megan’s older brother David Ellison is completing a $8 billion deal to acquire Paramount Global, which owns CBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon. Their father, who recently surpassed Bill Gates as the world’s fifth-richest person, will own a controlling share after the deal closes. The Ellisons’ handling of the fast-changing entertainment industry will affect many employees, partners, and competitors.

The biggest independent video game player

The legendary indie hit label promises to keep its promises.

By ki0nk

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