Annapurna Interactive, the publisher of Stray, Cocoon, Outer Wilds and other games, has all resigned. According to Bloomberg, all existing projects will continue.

You read that right: Annapurna Interactive has practically disbanded itself. Stray’s publishers have resigned after negotiations aimed at turning the group into an entity independent of owner Megan Ellison, in which the latter would no longer have control over Annapurna Interactive, failed, reports Bloomberg. This came after Ellison backed out of the talks twice.

This resulted in Annapurna Interactive’s president, Nathan Gary, executives and two dozen employees resigning and leaving their jobs. “All 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive team collectively resigned. This was one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make and we did not take this action lightly,” the former president of Annapurna Interactive told Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier.

On the other hand, Annapurna’s spokesperson confirmed that the lack of agreement led to the situation.

However, the company’s owner said, “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.”

What will become of Annapurna Interactive and the games in development?

As we know, Annapurna Interactive is the publisher of video games like Stray, Cocoon, Outer Wilds and others. The owner’s representatives have made it clear that they are still responsible for financing the titles they want to publish, as well as for quality control and marketing services. A company representative confirmed that all existing projects will continue despite the resignations of the gaming staff. According to the company’s new president, Hector Sanchez, the latter will be made possible by replacing the departing employees with other developers.

In case you were wondering, the agreement between the publisher and Remedy is absolutely certain. This means that the film, TV and video game futures of the Control and Alan Wake sagas are not in jeopardy. Additionally, Control 2 will be co-financed by Annapurna Pictures, a company that sits above Annapurna Interactive and has not suffered from similar issues. In this way, Remedy hopes to expand the Connected Universe beyond video games through series and movies of popular franchises.

Source: Bloomberg