Only a day after Atari slipped parent company tinyBuild two million in investments, publisher Versus Evil has seen its entire staff laid off. It isn’t clear if the decision was made before or after Atari dropped the money. We can assume, as the public never hears of the ongoings in the publishing space, that it was made after.
Former employees of the tiny publisher took to social media to reveal the closure, with Versus Evil itself coming forward on Twitter to confirm the disheartening news. With the 13-person publisher behind games such as Eville and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire going the way of the dodo, it’s unclear what the future is for the games that are currently in its pipeline.
Unfortunately, despite the large investment from Atari into its parent, the signs were already there, with tinyBuild expressing an interest in slashing jobs as a cost-cutting measure, taking a chapter from the likes of Embracer Group, Epic Games, EA, and CD Projekt Red. This also wasn’t the first studio to get this treatment, as earlier this month former staff at Hakjak Studios spilled the beans that it was closed down.
Today is a sad day. After 10 wonderful years, Versus Evil is shutting its doors. We've loved bringing you the best indie games we could find & sharing so many happy memories with you all, our amazing community! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for everything! ♥️
— Versus Evil 🛡️ (@vs_evil) December 22, 2023