Unfortunately, the rough year of 2023 for the games industry continues. Indie Publisher Versus Evil announced on Twitter today that parent company TinyBuild has shut down the company and laid off all the staff. Head of Production Lance James confirmed the closure on Twitter as well.
“Welp. That was a fun 10 year ride. The entire Versus Evil team has just been laid off. Let me be clear – this wasn’t a Versus Evil decision or choice.”
– Lance James, Versus Evil Head of Production
Legal issues between the two companies recently ended
According to GamesIndustry.biz, earlier this month TinyBuild announced that it had settled a legal dispute with Versus Evil’s former owner Stall Proof LLC. General Manager Steve Escalante and Head of Production Lance James were also involved in the legal dispute. In the end, TinyBuild paid $3.5 million and legal costs to settle the dispute, and Escalante left the company shortly after.
Over a decade of publishing
Versus Evil was founded in 2013 by Steve Escalante, who served as Marketing Director at ZeniMax Online Studios prior to doing so. In 2021 TinyBuild acquired the company as well as its QA Studio Red Cerberus. Over the last decade, Versus Evil has published very popular titles including The Banner Saga from developer Stoic and Obsidian Entertainment’s Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.
It’s been as rough a year as I can remember for the games industry. This one feels extra cruel as we’re just a couple of days away from Christmas and a little over a week from the new year.
We reached out to TinyBuild for comment but have not yet received a response.
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