More details on the alleged circumstances surrounding Annapurna Interactive staff exodus have emerged.
Bloomberg's the most recent report confirms and expands some parts of last week's story about the studio's alleged friction between senior management and broken deals, and offers new details.
According to the report, much of the conflict concerned Nathan Gary (then…president of Annapurna Interactive and Pictures), Interactive co-founder Megan Ellison and then-producer Hector Sanchez. Sources told Bloomberg that the clash between Gary and Sanchez stemmed from the former (and others) thinking the latter was “cozying up” to Ellison.
Two unnamed female staff members said Sanchez had made unwanted advances towards them at the time, which made them uncomfortable. Sources who spoke to Bloomberg say Gary then blocked Sanchez from becoming head of Interactive's internship program after learning of the allegations.
Sanchez then left Annapurna Interactive in 2019 for Epic gamesand in response to these recent claims, a studio spokesperson denied the allegations of misconduct. However, they claimed that Gary felt “threatened” by Sanchez's relationship with Ellison and intentionally disrupted her progress at the company.
Gary led both the Interactive and Pictures divisions in 2021
Gary was promoted to lead Annapurna Interactive and Pictures in 2021, and his time leading both has presumably been mixed. Conflict between the two divisions reportedly escalated as he ousted several executives, argued with others, and overall sought to transform Pictures' work culture into that of Interactive.
During this period, Interactive staff reportedly felt as if the division's continued success had made them “pay the bills” for the declining film and television side of the company.
Ellison began taking on a larger role at Annapurna Interactive last year, which sources say caused problems within the studio. The Bloomberg report states that during this period it was difficult to contact her, to the point that something that should have taken days of work could then take weeks.
Gary left Annapurna in mid-March 2024 following the sudden departure of fellow co-founder James Masi. The meeting between him and Ellison shortly before leaving was reportedly hostile.
The circumstances of Gary's departure are also unclear. Sources say Gary told colleagues he was fired, while Ellison (through a representative) says he chose to leave after being demoted.
The rise… and fall of Verset
Gary and Masi eventually returned, along with all the staff who had left Annapurna Interactive in solidarity with the couple. It was Ellison's idea to turn the division into a jointly owned group called Verset, which would then handle the publisher's existing undersigned projects, future independent works, and its own separate projects.
Like Interactive, attempts to get Verset off the ground quickly failed. Months after a weak start to the studio, discussions between its leaders and Ellison reportedly broke down.
Ellison says Verset never responded to her detailed list of negotiation terms, while Verset says she refused to meet with them in person.
Sanchez returned around this time and led Annapurna Pictures to secure a deal to adapt Remedy's Franchise of Alan Wake and Control for cinema and TV. As in IGN report, Bloomberg notes that Interactive staff were unaware of this deal until the morning of its announcement.
With the Verset deal foundering, other options were explored. Ideas supposedly included returning the team to Annapurna Interactive without Gary and reported to Sanchez, while Verset suggested contract publishing services.
Ultimately it all failed, resulting in the exodus of 25 employees. Annapurna Interactive is currently hiring and attempting to maintain agreements established with developers prior to these recent events, while the Verset team has created a financial fund to help those affected.
At the same time, Bloomberg revealed that Gary aims to start a new publisher (as was originally planned), although nothing concrete has come of it yet.
You can read Bloomberg's most comprehensive profile of Annapurna Interactive's leadership struggles Here.