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2023 has been a crazy rollercoaster ride for the game industry, with its own set of highs and lows, but Versus Evil has found itself on the latter end of that spectrum. Just when the year was about to end, the gaming world got hit by various unfortunate scenarios, ranging from the beloved Insomniac Games having terabytes of data hacked and shared online to numerous studios going through mass layoffs or shutting down.
The indie game publisher, owned by tinyBuild, has announced that it will no longer be continuing its operations and will be closing its doors after a decade.
Versus Evil Laid off Everybody Who Worked There Before Shutting Down
Before Versus Evil officially announced its closure, it was reported that the game publisher had already laid off its entire workforce, and it could not have been a worse time of the year to do it since people are usually celebrating the holiday season during these days. Sadly, after ten years of publishing various types of titles, such asStray SoulsandInto the Dead 2, the studio is no longer continuing its operations and has decided to shut its doors.
For those unaware of the aforementioned games, the publisher was also behind the relatively better-knownThe Banner Saga, developed by Stoic Studio.
Although there is no good time for mass layoffs in the industry and studios closing down, the unfortunate demise of Versus Evil is somehow even sadder because it has taken place only a couple of days before Christmas. Just a little while before the game publisher made the announcement, the studio’s head of production, Lance James, took matters into his own hands on X toinformthe fans of the tragic news.
Keeping it short and simple, he started his post with “Welp” and went on to state that the past ten years that he has spent with the video game publisher have been “fun.”
Without sugarcoating anything, James went on to announce that the “entire Versus Evil team has just been laid off,” and knowing that fans would be extremely furious with the studio about firing its full workforce during the holiday season, he also decided to clarify another fact. According to the head of production, none of this was the game publisher’s “decision or choice,” which points in one direction: its relatively new parent company, tinyBuild, which acquired the studio in November 2021.
tinyBuild Could Be the Reason Behind Versus Evil Closing Down
Lance James’ announcement was followed by more heartbreaking posts by other former employees of Versus Evil, with the director of product strategy, Francis Fincke,sharingthe sad news on LinkedIn. He stated that the game publisher was comprised of 13 individuals, all of whom were laid off on December 22, right at the beginning of their “Christmas break.”
Fincke went on to list his former co-workers, along with their professional information, to be of any help on their future job searches, while also requesting his followers to “engage” with the post as much as possible so that the aforementioned people could find further career opportunities.
The former senior brand manager at Versus Evil, Dave Hulegaard, tried toputa positive spin on the whole situation, stating that he is walking with his “head held high and a tear in” his eye after spending “3 amazing years” working at the game publisher. But the fact that all of this was done “3 days before Christmas” is genuinely the absolute saddest part of it.
Lauren C., the marketing community manager at the game studio, took a moredirectroute on her own LinkedIn, clearly blaming the parent company, tinyBuild, for laying off the entire team.
It did not take long after that for the studio to make its own officialannouncementabout the unfortunate situation. On the game publisher’s X account, it admitted that “today” was an extremely “sad day” as the “wonderful” decade-long journey has reached its untimely demise. The game studio confirmed that it “is shutting its doors,” while thanking the fans for sticking by it for all this time as the company has “loved bringing” players amazing indie titles.
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Osama Farooq
Senior Gaming Content Editor / Critic
Articles Published :356
Ever since Osama was gifted the glorious PS2 more than two decades back, video games have formed a major part of his life, ranging from spending hours playing through every single Dragon Ball game he could find to witnessing the gaming industry evolve into something extraordinary in modern times. Building his collection of PlayStation consoles throughout the years all the way up until PS5, he prefers single-player experiences like The Last of Us and Persona, while also letting off steam on a daily basis with casual EA Sports FC matches. But the current rise in online multiplayer shooters will never really appeal to his old-school self.
