Forever Ago

Annapurna Games, LLC (trade name: Annapurna Interactive) is an American video game publisher and developer. The company is a division of Annapurna Pictures, and was founded in 2016, and has focused on publishing innovative and emotive indie games. Notable games published by the company include What Remains of Edith Finch (2017), Donut County (2018), Outer Wilds (2019), Sayonara Wild Hearts (2019), Wattam (2019), Telling Lies (2019), Kentucky Route Zero (2020), Neon White (2022) and Stray (2022).

The company was founded as a division of Annapurna Pictures on December 1, 2016, as Annapurna's attempt to expand into the video game industry. The company's early staff was composed of existing Annapurna executives, producer Neale Hemrajani and Technology Head James Masi along with several video game veterans, including Nathan Gary, Deborah Mars, Hector Sanchez, and Jeff Legaspi, who had worked in Sony Interactive Entertainment's Santa Monica Studio and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Jenova Chen also served as the company's advisor. The company aimed to publish games that are "personal, emotional, and original". Annapurna Interactive acquired games that were in development at Santa Monica Studio's external development division, including What Remains of Edith Finch and Wattam.

On the day of establishment, the company announced several publishing deals it had signed with several independent developers. Some of the first games published by the company included Gorogoa, What Remains of Edith Finch, Wattam, and Florence. In 2017, Annapurna announced that it would begin publishing more games, which included The Artful Escape, Ashen, and Telling Lies.

In October 2020, Annapurna established an internal development studio in Los Angeles. Also in 2020, Annapurna signed a multi-year publishing agreement with Swedish studio Simogo.

Leading into the COVID-19 pandemic, Annapurna Pictures had been struggling with financial issues, and its CEO Megan Ellison had stepped back while her father Larry Ellison helped to stabilize the company and other executives departed. Megan Ellison eventually reappeared around 2021, and promoted Gary to president of Annapurna Pictures, while Mars and Nathan Vella, former president of Capybara Games, were promoted to co-manage Annapurna Interactive. According to sources speaking to IGN, Gary's management put more resources into the gaming division, as well as promoting Masi to chief administration officer for Annapurna Pictures. Gary also claimed to have established Annapurna Animation, an animation division of Annapurna Pictures, with their premiere work being Nimona, though other sources stated this had been credited to Ellison. As a result, there was a matter of distrust between Ellison and Annapurna Interactive, leading to a hands-off approach for the publisher to continue to group.

Two limited EDition box sets containing the games Donut County, Kentucky Route Zero, Outer Wilds, Sayonara Wild Hearts, Wattam, What Remains of Edith Finch, Telling Lies, and Gorogoa, celebrating the first five years of the publisher, were released in collaboration with iam8bit for the PlayStation 4 in late 2020.

In June 2022, Annapurna announced the formation of an internal game development studio headed by Chelsea Hash. Its first game, Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, was announced in 2023.

A limited edition box set containing the games Donut County, Gorogoa, Hindsight, I Am Dead,If Found...,Kentucky Route Zero, Neon White,Sayonara Wild Hearts, Solar Ash, The Artful Escape, The Pathless,What Remains of Edith Finch, was released in collaboration with iam8bit for the Nintendo Switch in late 2023.

In September 2023, while Annapurna Animation announced an animated film adaptation of Stray is in development after the success of its first film Nimona (2023), other games from Annapurna Interactive are also considered to have potential adaptations.

In November 2023, Annapurna Interactive made its first acquisition in South African studio 24 Bit Games, a studio which had provided support for other indie games such as Gone Home, Neon White, and Cocoon.

According to IGN, Ellison became more involved in Annapurna Pictures at the start of 2024, letting go of Masi and putting Gary back as president of Annapurna Interactive. These events led some of the Annapurna Interactive staff to quit, and Ellison sought to understand what issues there were. After conversing with staff, Ellison brought back Gary and Masi and opened discussions towards having the division become its own standalone company, tentatively named Verset. Shortly after this, Ellison rehired Sanchez to lead a new games and interactive division within Annapurna Pictures.

In August 2024, Annapurna Pictures signed a partnership deal with Remedy Entertainment to co-finance the development of Control 2 along with getting the television and film rights to Control and Alan Wake. Internally, this new division would become Annapurna's division for AAA games, while Annapurna Interactive would remain focused on indie games. The effort to rehire Sanchez was spearheaded by the deal with Remedy Entertainment. However, Annapurna Interactive staff were not informed of these details. Sanchez will reportedly work with Ellison to develop IP across mediums.

Also in August 2024, Annapurna Interactive's staff tried to approach AbOUT their previously proposed split, but Ellison did not join these negotiations, instead taking more control in Annapurna Interactive. At the start of September 2024, Gary, Masi, Mars and Vella submitted a co-resignation letter. Annapurna Pictures reported at the time they were planning to integrate the Interactive division among their other branches. The following week, Bloomberg News's Jason Schreier reported Annapurna Interactive's entire staff had resigned. The group tried to continue their previous discussions on establishing Verset, but Ellison did not respond to these messages.

Following these resignations, Sanchez took over Annapurna Interactive. The resignations left questions regarding what support developers publishing though Annapurna Interactive would get. Some developers with projects under Annapurna Interactive, including Davey Wreden and C418, and Beethoven & Dinosaur stated their forthcoming or planned games were not affected; Remedy Entertainment was not affected as Annapurna Pictures was responsible for their collaboration. Annapurna announced that development of Silent Hill: Townfall and Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, which was developed internally, would still continue.

In January 2025, Leanne Loombe joined Annapurna Interactive as Executive Vice President and Head of Games. Annapurna released Wanderstop in March 2025, developed by Ivy Road and composed by C418. In April 2025, Lushfoil Photography Sim and first person shooter Skin Deep were released by Annapurna. To a T, with development led by Keita Takahashi was released in May. The adventure-racing title Wheel World was released during summer 2025.

In 2025, Annapurna Interactive announced a publishing deal with The Lego Group via the title Lego Voyagers, developed By Light Brick Studios.

• Official website