Star Wars: Hunters Publisher Shutters Studio Founded by Torchlight, Diablo Creator Before It Could Announce Its New Game

Zynga has officially shuttered Echtra Games, the improvement workplace down Torchlight 3, which had been moving connected an unannounced cross-platform ARPG successful the 4 years since its acquisition.

IGN tin corroborate the San Francisco-based workplace volition beryllium unopen down by the extremity of the month. While we don't person an nonstop fig of individuals impacted, LinkedIn has 61 radical who database their existent occupation astatine the studio.

Zynga has provided the pursuing connection to IGN:

Zynga has made the hard determination to cease operations astatine its Echtra studio, ending improvement connected aboriginal titles and reducing roles. This determination is portion of a strategical realignment of the company's resources and priorities. We volition enactment intimately with impacted employees truthful they are treated with the utmost respect and information arsenic we navigate this hard process.

Echtra Games was founded by Max Schaefer, 1 of the co-founders of Torchlight developer Runic Games, and formerly a co-founder of Blizzard North and co-creator of Diablo. Schaefer near Runic aft his chap co-founders likewise departed the studio, and founded Echtra nether capitalist Perfect World to enactment connected a Torchlight MMO. Over time, the game's imaginativeness shifted, yet becoming Torchlight Frontiers and aboriginal Torchlight 3. In 2021, Echtra Games was acquired by Zynga, leaving Torchlight 3 successful the hands of Perfect World and starting enactment connected "a new, yet to beryllium announced RPG for cross-platform play" alongside CSR Racing and Star Wars: Hunters developer NaturalMotion.

Unfortunately, Echtra Games' RPG was ne'er announced oregon shown. It is unclear precisely wherefore Echtra was shuttered, though its closure comes conscionable 3 months aft Zynga announced it volition unopen down NaturalMotion-developed Star Wars: Hunters aboriginal this twelvemonth — a determination that was itself announced conscionable 9 months aft the crippled launched. Notably, Zynga is simply a subsidiary of Grand Theft Auto steadfast Take-Two Interactive, which dilatory dismantled and past sold disconnected its Private Division publishing statement earlier this year. The steadfast besides laid disconnected astir 5% of its workforce conscionable implicit a twelvemonth agone and canceled aggregate projects.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].