Former employees of Annapurna Interactive have formed a new and not-yet-named company that will reportedly take control of discarded Private Division labels following the sale of Take-Two Interactive.
The situation comes after Take-Two Interactive decided to sell off its indie label to a then-unnamed buyer that was later reported to be Haveli Investments. This was a private equity firm that was based in Texas.
Taking Over Private Division Labels
Annapurna Interactive staff resigned en masse last year, which sparked questions regarding the fate of its own portfolio games.
The employees' decision came after negotiations to spin off the games arm of the Annapurna Pictures media company into its own independent company broke down.
The former staff members of the studio have now apparently banded together and joined forces with Haveli Investments to form a new company.
It was reported that Private Division's existing employees are also facing layoffs, but no clear details have been given, according to The Verge.
The new, unnamed company will reportedly oversee the indie label's existing as well as in-development titles. These include the cozy simulator "Tales of the Shire," which is set to come out in March 2025, and GameFreak's "Project Bloom."
Annapurna Interactive was responsible for a ton of popular games, such as "Cocoon," "Outer Wilds," and "Sayonara Wild Hearts." The negotiations that supposedly sparked the mass resignation apparently involved owner Megan Ellison.
A New, Unnamed Company
At the time, there were reports that the employees, who numbered 25 in total, were planning to come under one name, Verset. This was said to have been the original intention for the spin-off of the games arm before the negotiations fell short, Eurogamer said.
Another noteworthy title that will be undertaken by the new company is "Kerbal Space Program 2." This particular label was previously sold by "Grand Theft Auto" publisher Take-Two Interactive in November last year.
The latter said that the decision was made so that it could focus its resources on "growing our core and mobile businesses for the long-term."
It added that the unnamed buyer purchased the rights to "substantially all" of Private Division's live and unreleased titles, excluding Moon Studios' "No Rest for the Wicked."
Private Division was originally founded in 2017 and went on to publish mid-sized video game titles. The company started off strong and handled several high-profile releases, such as 2019's "The Outer Worlds," which was able to sell 5 million copies.
However, the label later lost momentum and ultimately became an awkward stand-out within its larger parent company. This is apparently what led to the decision to lay staff off and close studios, according to Bloomberg.
