The worlds of Control and Alan Wake are about to get bigger. Recently, Remedy Entertainment announced a partnership with Annapurna Interactive to develop a sequel of the third-person action-adventure shooter as well as a TV series or a movie based on the other title-winning game.
Now, this might look pretty fascinating for the fans of both franchises. Both IPs have a stronghold in the gaming fraternity, with huge popularity amongst the fans. Now, a recent internal disagreement at Annapurna might not affect the deal at all, but for this, another long-hailed franchise might be at stake.
Internal Disagreement Leads to Mass Resignation at Annapurna Interactive
Recently, due to a serious disagreement over the future of the company, the entire staff at the Annapurna Interactive team has resigned. As per Bloomberg, these resignations happened after a discussion between Annapurna founder Megan Ellison and Annapurna Interactive President Nathan Gary.
The main point of that discussion was to spin out the Annapurna Interactive team out of the gaming section as a standalone company, but that deal was scrapped in a failed negotiation.
As soon as Ellison pulled out of the negotiation, the Interactive team, including the President along with around two dozen other staff, including division co-heads Deborah Mars and Nathan Vella, decided to leave the company. The leaving team subsequently released the following statement to Bloomberg:
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.
Now the gaming companies are in chaos, as a lot of them are paired up with Annapurna on financial teams. This company is not only responsible for funding the games of those companies but also for providing theme essential services like quality assurance, marketing, and many more.
Alan Wake and Control Are Safe From this Decision, But Not Blade Runner 2033
Even after this huge mass resignation, Annapurna assured every partnering company that this incident wouldn’t affect the partnerships of all the tied-u companies.
After this dispute, Annapurna Founder issued a statement assuring all the other partnering companies to provide full commitments:
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.
Ellison took bold actions as well after this mass resignation, as ex-Epic Games executive Hector Sanchez has been signed as the new President of Annapurna Interactive, who will put his feet in Garry’s shoes.
Since a lot of people are asking: Remedy's deal for Control 2 and Alan Wake is with the broader company, Annapurna Pictures, and is not impacted by the departure of Annapurna Interactive's staff
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 12, 2024Also, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier assured that this departure saga will not affect the partnership between Remedy and Annapurna.
However, this mass resignation now hurt a highly anticipated title, Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth. Now this game was being developed by Alcon Interactive Group and Annapurna Interactive’s internal studio, led by game director Chelse Hash.
Now the sad part is, among all those staff who left the company, Hash was one of them. It’s true that Sanchez is appointed as the new president, but with the departure of the head of an individual project, it will be pretty hard for Ellison to bring the highly awaited Blade Runner project back on track.
What’s your opinion on this disappointing incident? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.