Versus Evil, The Game Publisher, Has Shut Down

Versus Evil, The Game Publisher, Has Shut Down

Versus Evil, the indie game publisher behind Stoic Studio’s The Banner Saga and Obsidian Entertainment’s Pillars of Eternity, announced its closure on Friday. Versus Evil’s entire staff was laid off just days before Christmas, and the day after Atari announced a $2 million investment in tinyBuild, Versus Evil’s parent company.

“Today is a sad day,” Versus Evil posted on X. “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!”

Prior to the announcement, former Versus Evil production manager Lance James posted the following: “Welp. That was a fun 10-year ride. The entire Versus Evil team has just been laid off.” James added, “Let me be clear — this wasn’t a Versus Evil decision or choice.” James also spoke to former Versus Evil employees who are currently looking for work. We also posted messages from members.

According to a LinkedIn post by the company’s former director of product strategy, Francis Fincke, the closure of Versus Evil has affected thirteen employees.

Versus Evil’s demise comes just weeks after tinyBuild announced lower-than-expected revenue and cost-cutting measures, including layoffs. On its investor website, tinyBuild claims to have over 400 employees worldwide, with 250 of them joining in 2021 after the acquisition of Versus Evil and its development subsidiary Red Cerberus.

The Versus Evil label was singled out as an underperformer in tinyBuild’s December 5 announcement with three of four games delayed from 2023 to 2024. That announcement also revealed a $3.5 million settlement between tinyBuild and Versus Evil founder Steve Escalante, Lance James, and Stall Proof LLC (Versus Evil’s previous owner before tinyBuild purchased the publisher in 2021).

According to the announcement, Escalante, James, and Stall Proof claimed that tinyBuild “obligated and failed to make timely capital contributions to Versus Evil during fiscal years 2022 and 2023.” Since then, Escalante has left Versus Evil.

Atari’s investment in tinyBuild is part of the latter’s $14 million capital raise through the issuance of new shares.

Versus Evil’s closure comes at the end of a difficult year for employees in the video game industry, in with the number of people being affected reaching well over 8,000. That’s all people who have lost their jobs due to severe cutbacks across tech industries.