Annapurna Interactive | |
Company type | Division |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | December 1, 2016 |
Founder | Megan Ellison Nathan Gary James Masi |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Hector Sanchez (president) |
Parent | Annapurna Pictures |
Subsidiaries | 24 Bit Games |
Website | annapurnainteractive |
Annapurna Games, LLC (trade name: Annapurna Interactive) [1] is an American video game publisher and developer. The company is a division of Annapurna Pictures, and was founded in 2016. Notable games published by the company include Donut County , Kentucky Route Zero , Outer Wilds , Sayonara Wild Hearts , Wattam , What Remains of Edith Finch , Telling Lies , Neon White and Stray .
The company was founded as a division of Annapurna Pictures on December 1, 2016, as Annapurna's attempt to expand into the video game industry. The company's early staff was composed of existing Annapurna executives, producer Neale Hemrajani and Technology Head James Masi along with several video game veterans, including Nathan Gary, Deborah Mars, Hector Sanchez, and Jeff Legaspi, who had worked in Sony Interactive Entertainment and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. [2] Jenova Chen also served as the company's advisor. The company aimed to publish games that are "personal, emotional, and original". [3]
On the day of establishment, the company announced several publishing deals it had signed with several independent developers. Some of the first games published by the company included Gorogoa , What Remains of Edith Finch , Wattam , and Florence . [4] In 2017, Annapurna announced that it would begin publishing more games, which included The Artful Escape , Ashen , and Telling Lies . [5] [6] [7]
In May 2020, it was announced that Nathan Vella, former president of Capybara Games, had joined the company as an executive. [8] In October 2020, Annapurna established an internal development studio in Los Angeles. [9]
In March 2022, video game journalism YouTube channel People Make Games reported on three video game studios publishing under Annapurna Interactive—Mountains, Fullbright, and Funomena. In all three cases, employees reportedly reached out to Annapurna Interactive, addressing concerns regarding abuse and a toxic work environment being created by the studio founders. In hopes of getting Annapurna Interactive to mediate, employees stated that the publisher was siding mostly with the founders in question. According to one former studio employee, representatives of Annapurna Interactive had been quoted responding that "without strong personalities, games don't get made." Chris Bratt of People Make Games saw these incidents as part of a greater pattern of auteur culture that can be found across the film and video game industry. [10] [11]
Two limited edition box sets containing the games Donut County , Kentucky Route Zero , Outer Wilds , Sayonara Wild Hearts , Wattam , What Remains of Edith Finch , Telling Lies , and Gorogoa , celebrating the first five years of the publisher, were released in collaboration with iam8bit for the PlayStation 4 in late 2020. [12]
By 2021, Annapurna Interactive had become so profitable that Gary was promoted to president of Annapurna Pictures. Like its parent company, it relished on investing in innovative mid-budget productions. [13]
In June 2022, Annapurna announced the formation of an internal game development studio headed by Chelsea Hash. [14] Its first game, Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth , was announced in 2023. [15]
A limited edition box set containing the games Donut County , Gorogoa , Hindsight , I Am Dead, If Found..., Kentucky Route Zero , Neon White, Sayonara Wild Hearts , Solar Ash, The Artful Escape, The Pathless, What Remains of Edith Finch , was released in collaboration with iam8bit for the Nintendo Switch in late 2023. [16]
In September 2023, while Annapurna Animation announced an animated film adaptation of Stray is in development after the success of its first film Nimona (2023), other games from Annapurna Interactive are also considered to have potential adaptations. [17]
In November 2023, Annapurna Interactive made its first acquisition in South African studio 24 Bit Games, a studio which had provided support for other indie games such as Gone Home , Neon White , and Cocoon . [18]
Gary, the president of Annapurna Interactive, announced he would depart the company in September 2024 alongside co-heads Mars and Vella. Annapurna Pictures stated that they were making plans to integrate the Interactive division among their other branches. [19] The following week, Bloomberg News's Jason Schreier reported Annapurna Interactive's entire staff of 25 had resigned. The division had been seeking to spin themselves out to an independent entity from Annapurna Pictures, but owner Megan Ellison pulled out of the negotiations, leading to the resignations. While new staff have been moved into the division, the resignations left questions regarding what support developers publishing though Annapurna Interactive would get. [20] Some developers, including Remedy Entertainment, Davey Wreden and C418, and Beethoven & Dinosaur stated their forthcoming or planned games were not affected. [21] [22] The division's co-founder Sanchez took over as president, stating they would continue to honor all ongoing publishing contracts. [20]
Year | Tile | Platform | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
TBA | Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth | Windows | [62] |
Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American multinational video game and digital entertainment company based in San Mateo, California, and a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Jointly established by two subsidiaries in 2016, it primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game consoles and products. It is also the world's largest company in the video game industry based on its equity investments.
Remedy Entertainment Oyj, trading internationally as Remedy Entertainment Plc, is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Notable games the studio has developed include the first two entries in the Max Payne franchise, Alan Wake, Quantum Break and Control. Sam Lake, Remedy's creative director, has represented the company on numerous occasions.
Gearbox Software, L.L.C is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, serves as president and chief executive officer. Gearbox initially created expansions for the Valve game Half-Life, then ported that game and others to console platforms. In 2005, Gearbox launched its first independent set of games, Brothers in Arms, on console and mobile devices. It became their flagship franchise and spun off a comic book series, television documentary, books, and action figures. Their second original game series, Borderlands, commenced in 2009, and by 2015 had sold over 26 million copies. The company also owns the intellectual property of Duke Nukem and Homeworld.
Frontier Developments plc. is a British video game developer founded by David Braben in January 1994 and based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. Frontier develops management simulators Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo, and has produced several games in David Braben's Elite series, including Elite Dangerous. The company takes its name from the earliest titles in the Elite series with which it was involved, a port of Frontier: Elite II and development of Frontier: First Encounters. In 2013, the company was listed on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange. It published third-party games under the Frontier Foundry label between 2019 and 2022.
CD Projekt S.A. is a Polish video game developer, publisher and distributor based in Warsaw, founded in May 1994 by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński. Iwiński and Kiciński were video game retailers before they founded the company, which initially acted as a distributor of foreign video games for the domestic market. The department responsible for developing original games, CD Projekt Red, best known for The Witcher series, was formed in 2002. In 2008, CD Projekt launched the digital distribution service Good Old Games, now known as GOG.com.
Annapurna Pictures is an American independent media company founded by Megan Ellison on April 2, 2011, and based in Los Angeles, California. It is active in film, television and theatrical production, film distribution, and video game publishing.
Simogo is a Swedish independent video game developer based in Malmö. The company was founded in 2010 and is best known for creating games for mobile devices, including Year Walk and Device 6. Its name comes from the name of its founders Simon (SIM), and Gordon (GO); the 'O' from the Swedish word "och" meaning "and".
Gorogoa is a puzzle video game developed by Jason Roberts and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, and iOS on 14 December 2017, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 22 May 2018, and shortly thereafter an Android and Kindle Fire release.
Wattam is a 2019 puzzle-platform game developed by Funomena and published by Annapurna Interactive. It was designed by Keita Takahashi, better known for creating the Katamari Damacy series, and was released for PlayStation 4 and Windows on December 17.
Outer Wilds is a 2019 action-adventure video game developed by Mobius Digital and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game follows the player character as they explore a planetary system stuck in a 22-minute time loop that resets after the sun goes supernova and destroys the system. Through repeated attempts they investigate the alien ruins of the Nomai to discover their history and the cause of the time loop.
Nacon is a French video game company based in Lesquin. It designs and distributes gaming accessories, and publishes and distributes video games for various platforms. In 2020, Bigben Group was consolidated to form Nacon.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is a rhythm action video game developed by Simogo and published by Annapurna Interactive. Described as a "pop album video game", Sayonara Wild Hearts follows the story of a heartbroken young woman through a surrealistic landscape. Each level of the game is set to a song, with the player guiding the woman while collecting hearts, avoiding obstacles, and fighting enemies. The game was released for iOS, macOS and tvOS through Apple Arcade, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 in September 2019, for Windows in December 2019, and for Xbox One in February 2020. It was met with positive reviews for its visuals, soundtrack, and gameplay, and nominated for several year-end awards.
Embracer Group AB is a Swedish video game and media holding company based in Karlstad. The company comprises 10 operative groups: Amplifier Game Invest, Asmodee, CDE Entertainment, Coffee Stain, Dark Horse Media, Deca Games, Easybrain, Freemode, Plaion, and THQ Nordic.
The Electronic Entertainment Experience 2021 was the 26th and final E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products. The event, organized by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), ran as a virtual, online-only event with free access to all, from June 12–15, 2021.
Stray is a 2022 adventure game developed by BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna Interactive. The story follows a stray cat who falls into a walled city populated by robots, machines, and mutant bacteria, and sets out to return to the surface with the help of a drone companion, B-12. The game is presented through a third-person perspective. The player traverses the game world by leaping across platforms and climbing up obstacles, and can interact with the environment to open new paths. Using B-12, they can store items found throughout the world and hack into technology to solve puzzles. Throughout the game, the player must evade the antagonistic Zurks and Sentinels, which attempt to kill them.
The Dark Pictures Anthology is an anthology series of interactive drama and survival horror video games developed and published by Supermassive Games. The anthology is planned to consist of eight games, with each game inspired by a different horror genre. Each game features five main characters whose survival depends on the choices made by the player. While each character only appears in one game, face models are often reused in other games, except those of the leading actors. The games use a third-person perspective and the ability to choose from various dialogue options and courses of action.
Thirsty Suitors is an adventure video game developed by Outerloop Games and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game is about a young woman, Jala, who returns to her hometown for her sister's wedding and must navigate her relationships with her family and former paramours. The game was released on November 2, 2023, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Ports to Android and iOS published by Netflix is in development.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a 2024 puzzle game developed by Simogo and published by Annapurna Interactive. It was released on May 16, 2024, on Windows and Nintendo Switch.