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$90 million, why did they give up the "ninth art"?
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In 2022, a game called Stray was released and quickly took the world by storm, turning players into stray cats and navigating the streets of cyberpunk for a unique adventure, and the success of the game not only made the developer BlueTwelveStudio famous, but also put its publisher AnnapurnaInteractive in the spotlight of the gaming world again
Just when "Stray" earned $90 million and Annapurna Interactive seemed to be thriving, on September 13, 2024, an explosive news shook the gaming circle: all employees of Annapurna Interactive, including President Nathan · Gary, resigned en masse!
Why did this ship, which carries the dream of the "Ninth Art", suddenly capsize on the seemingly calm sea? What kind of undercurrent does this $90 million success cover?
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Fans of the "Ninth Art": Annapurna's Art Path
The story begins in 2016, when the well-known Hollywood filmmaker Megan · Ellison, the "golden lady" with hundreds of millions of assets, founded Annapurna Interactive with a love for games
Unlike other game publishers that pursue commercial interests, Megan has developed a unique artistic path for Annapurna Interactive – focusing on publishing "personal, emotional, and original games that push the boundaries of interactive content"
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In 2017, Annapurna Interactive released their first work, "Memories of Eddie Finch", a game with "walking simulator" as the core gameplay, with its unique narrative and profound emotional experience, conquered countless players, and won many awards such as the TGA Best Narrative Award in one fell swoop, becoming the brightest star in the game industry that year
Since then, Annapurna Interactive has launched a series of amazing "artworks": "Interstellar Frontier" has reshaped the definition of space exploration games with its deep thinking about the universe and life; "Goodbye Wild Heart" perfectly blends the rhythm of music with action-adventure, bringing a hearty audio-visual feast; "Kentucky Highway Zero" provokes players to think about life and destiny with its mysterious atmosphere and metaphorical narrative
These games, without exception, embody Annapurna Interactive's pursuit of the "Ninth Art": they are not limited to the entertainment of games, but also pay more attention to the artistic expression and emotional experience of games, trying to use games as a unique medium to touch the deep emotional resonance of players' hearts
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The Game of Art and Commerce: Annapurna's Strategic Dilemma
The ideal is plump, the reality is skinny, and although Annapurna Interactive has been a great success artistically, it has always been unsatisfactory commercially
Indie games, especially those "artwork" games that Annapurna Interactive loves, often have a high barrier to understanding and play, making it difficult to attract mass players, while the success of commercial games often depends on a large player base and a consistent revenue stream
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According to the data, the revenue of Annapurna Interactive's most successful game, Stray, is still insignificant compared to those commercial games that often generate billions of dollars
What's more, Annapurna Interactive's "art first" strategy has also led to a lack of sufficient commercial considerations in game development and operation
They often give developers a great deal of creative freedom, but neglect to control the cost and market risk of the game. They pay more attention to the artistic expression of the game, but neglect to polish the gameplay and business model
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If it weren't for the continuous "blood transfusion" of the parent company Annapurna Pictures and the Ellison family behind it, Annapurna Interactive might have been unsustainable
The "Refuge" of Capital: The Ellison Family's Artistic Dream
Meghan · Ellison's father, Larry ·Ellison, the founder of Oracle, is a tech giant with enough wealth to allow his daughter to spend money in any field
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For Megan, Annapurna Interactive is more of a platform for her artistic dreams than a commercial company that needs to make a profit, and she can support talented indie game developers at any cost to bring their ideas to life without thinking too much about the commercial returns
This background of "not bad money" also makes Annapurna Interactive particularly "capricious" in the gaming circle, they can spend huge sums of money to invite Hollywood stars to voice games, they can support experimental game projects regardless of returns, and even give up compromises on the game market for the sake of artistic effects
Behind this "willfulness", there is also a hidden crisis, once the "shelter" of capital is lost, can the artistic dream of Annapurna interaction continue?
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The "exodus" of the team: the internal conflict in Annapurna
In 2019, perhaps tired of the "burning money" game business, or perhaps for other reasons, Meghan · Ellison announced that she would take a leave of absence and hand over the company to Nathan · Gary, a veteran game producer from Sony
After Gary took office, he continued Annapurna Interactive's pursuit of the "ninth art", and he also began to try to find a more reasonable balance between art and commerce
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He pushed the company to work with more commercial game development teams, and began to try to commercialize some successful indie game IPs, partnering with Remedy Entertainment to develop Control 2, and obtaining the film and television adaptation rights of the IP
Gary's reform touched on the internal interests of the company and also triggered conflicts with Meghan ·
According to insiders, Gary has repeatedly proposed to Megan to spin off Annapurna Interactive from the parent company and form an independently operated game company in order to operate more flexibly for commercialization, but this proposal was rejected by Meghan
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In the end, under the intensification of multiple contradictions such as the company's development direction and management philosophy, Gary and his team chose to resign en masse and leave this "palace of art" that they had built
Reflections for us: the future of art and commerce
The story of Annapurna Interactive is a microcosm of the development of the game industry, reflecting the survival dilemma of indie games in the wave of commercialization, and also triggering people's thinking about the relationship between art and business
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Should those who pursue commercial interests stick to the bottom line of art? Should creative freedom be retained in order to meet market demands?
Perhaps, there is no standard answer
But what is certain is that the experience of Annapurna Interaction provides us with a valuable sample that reminds us that we need both the courage to look up at the stars and the wisdom to keep our feet on the ground on the road to chasing our dreams
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And those developers who have worked at Annapurna Interactive, with their love for the "Ninth Art", founded a new game company, Verset, will their future be a continuation of the "Ninth Art", or another reincarnation?
Time, will tell
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