“This Was One of the Hardest Decisions We Ever Had to Make:” Annapurna’s Entire Gaming Team Has Resigned

According to a recent Bloomberg report, the entirety of Annapurna’s gaming division — Annapurna Interactive — has resigned.

Annapurna Interactive president Nathan Gary had been in talks with Annapurna founder Megan Ellison to split the gaming division off from Annapurna itself to become its own company. Negotiations were already underway, but when Ellison pulled out, this resulted in Gary resigning. Following him, the rest of the staff at Annapurna Interactive also followed suit and resigned.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Gary said, “All 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive team collectively resigned. This was one of the hardest decision we have ever had to make and we did not take this action lightly.”

Originally, once the gaming division had spun off, ex-Epic Games executive Hector Sanchez would step up as the new president of Annapurna’s media and gaming arm. Now that Gary has resigned, Sanchez has stepped up as the new president of Annapurna’s Interactive and New Media division. The Bloomberg report goes on to state that the company will replace its staff, and that Annapurna will continue work and uphold their ends of existing contracts and games.

“Our top priority is continuing to support our developer and publishing partners during this transition. 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 theater.”

Hector Sanchez via Bloomberg

Annapurna Interactive is known for putting out critically acclaimed indie games such as Sayonara Wild Hearts and Stray. The company had also teamed up with Konami to help publish Silent Hill Townfall, as part of Konami’s efforts to revive the beloved survival horror franchise.