Versus Evil, the indie sport writer behind Stoic Studio’s The Banner Saga and Obsidian Leisure’s Pillars of Eternity, introduced Friday it was shutting down after a decade in enterprise. Versus Evil’s complete workers has been laid off simply days earlier than Christmas — and the day after Atari introduced a $2 million funding in Versus Evil mother or father firm tinyBuild.
“In the present day is a tragic day,” Versus Evil said on its X account. “After 10 fantastic years, Versus Evil is shutting its doorways. We’ve liked bringing you the perfect indie video games we might discover & sharing so many completely happy reminiscences with you all, our wonderful group! From the underside of our hearts, THANK YOU for all the things!”
That announcement was preceded by a post from Lance James, the now-former head of manufacturing at Versus Evil, who mentioned, “Welp. That was a enjoyable 10 yr experience. The complete Versus Evil crew has simply been laid off.” Added James, “Let me be clear — this wasn’t a Versus Evil resolution or selection.” James additionally reposted messages from former Versus Evil staffers who had been now looking for work.
13 workers are mentioned to be affected by the closure of Versus Evil, in accordance a post on LinkedIn by the corporate’s former director of product technique, Francis Fincke.
The closure of Versus Evil comes weeks after tinyBuild introduced lower-than-expected income and cost-cutting measures, together with layoffs on the firm. On its investor website, tinyBuild says it has greater than 400 workers worldwide, 250 of which had been added to its ranks in 2021, when tinyBuild acquired Versus Evil and its improvement subsidiary Purple Cerberus.
In its announcement (PDF) from Dec. 5, tinyBuild pointed to the Versus Evil label as an under-performer, with three out of 4 video games from the model delayed from 2023 into 2024. That announcement additionally revealed a $3.5 million settlement between tinyBuild and Versus Evil founder Steve Escalante, Lance James, and Stall Proof LLC (Versus Evil’s former proprietor, previous to tinyBuild buying the writer in 2021). Escalante, James, and Stall Proof had alleged that tinyBuild “obligated and didn’t make well timed capital contributions to Versus Evil throughout fiscal years 2022 and 2023,” in keeping with the announcement. Escalante has since left Versus Evil.
Atari’s funding in tinyBuild is a part of the latter’s try to lift $14 million in capital by issuing new shares.
The closure of Versus Evil comes amid a dire yr for workers within the online game trade, wherein an estimated 9,000 individuals have misplaced jobs amid extreme cutbacks throughout tech industries.