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Versus Evil, the indie publisher perhaps best known for games like Stoic's The Banner Saga trilogy and Obsidian Entertainment's Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, is shutting down, with former employees saying parent company tinyBuild has laid off the entire team.

"Today is a sad day. After 10 wonderful years, Versus Evil is shutting its doors," Versus Evil's official X/Twitter account shared. "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 shared the news after a number of former employees posted on social media about being laid off.

"Entire 13 person company, Versus Evil, laid off today December 22 at the start our Christmas break," Versus Evil director of product strategy Francis Fincke wrote in a LinkedIn post on Friday.

"Welp. That was a fun 10 year ride," wrote head of production Lance James on X/Twitter. "The entire Versus Evil team has just been laid off."

James added that it "wasn't a Versus Evil decision or choice," with community manager Chris Trippi also writing on X/Twitter that it was a tinyBuild call.

"Unfortunately our parent company has made the decision to lay off the entire team here at Versus Evil," Trippi wrote.

IGN has reached to tinyBuild, which acquired Versus Evil and its QA studio Red Cerberus two years ago, for comment.

The news comes not only just before the holidays, but one day after Atari announced a $2 million investment into tinyBuild. tinyBuild said earlier this month that it would be cutting jobs after an "incredibly challenging year," as reported by Game Developer.

Unfortunately, Versus Evil is not the first casualty of tinyBuild's cost-cutting. On December 5, former employees of tinyBuild-owned developer Hakjak Studios said it had been shut down.

Versus Evil was founded in 2013 by former ZeniMax Online Studios marketing director Steve Escalante, who announced just a couple of weeks ago that he would be leaving Versus Evil and Red Cerberus. The publisher is also known for titles like UnMetal, First Class Trouble, and Stray Souls.

The news comes after an incredibly difficult year in gaming industry layoffs, with major cuts at companies like Embracer, Epic Games, EA, and much more.

Indie Publisher Versus Evil Is Shutting Down, Entire Staff Laid Off - IGN

Versus Evil, the indie publisher best known for games like Stoic's The Banner Saga trilogy and Obsidian Entertainment's Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, is shutting down, with former employees saying parent company tinyBuild has laid off the entire team.

www.ign.com

 

[Dacvak]

Here’s their portfolio for anyone interested: https://versusevil.com/games

I’m usually not one to judge a book by its cover, but I’ve never heard of any of these games, and they strike me as a bit… uninspired.

Really sucks to get let go around the holidays, though.

 

[Punished Miku]

Here’s their portfolio for anyone interested: https://versusevil.com/games

I’m usually not one to judge a book by its cover, but I’ve never heard of any of these games, and they strike me as a bit… uninspired.

Really sucks to get let go around the holidays, though.

Eville was on GP and it wasnt great. I think Ive at least heard of Yaga and of course PoE but the rest is nothing I've ever seen.

 

[Lokaum D+]

 

[Interfectum]

 

[Rockondevil]

Never really heard of them outside of Eville which I really enjoyed. Probably one of my most played games this year.
It was just your Town of Salem type game but I just preferred the play style it had over some others.

Sucks for them, especially this time of year.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

It's been a pretty bad year for the gaming industry no? Lots of closed studios and fired employees.

 

[MasterDerico]

Sad news, i have and like some of their games a lot...
Respect!

 

[SJRB]

They did Unmetal, which is legit an amazing Metal Gear spoof/tribute.

 

[John Bilbo]

Banner Saga trilogy is great.

 

[ReBurn]

That sucks

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Here’s their portfolio for anyone interested: https://versusevil.com/games

I’m usually not one to judge a book by its cover, but I’ve never heard of any of these games, and they strike me as a bit… uninspired.

Really sucks to get let go around the holidays, though.

Pillars of Eternity is awesome I think. But otherwise, not seeing a lot there I'm familiar with either. Guess it is Indie stuff.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

"Our parent company made the decision" doesn't sound very 'independent' to me

 

[BennyBlanco]

They did Unmetal, which is legit an amazing Metal Gear spoof/tribute.

Banner Saga trilogy is great.

yup, this sucks

 

[IntentionalPun]

Indie publishing has got to be massively risky.

 

[dreamstation]

I wonder what this means for Broken Roads? I guess they just find a new publisher? As an Australian I've been really looking forward to that game!
Also they published Pillars of Eternity 2 so they're alright in my book.
Sucks happening so close to Christmas. Hope they all land OK.

 

[Tams]

OP acting like we all know who they hell they are.

I've not heard of even a single one of their games. They all look like generic clones. No wonder they're shutting down.

 

[radewagon]

OP acting like we all know who they hell they are.

Really.... What gave you that impression? Was it the deluge of information that OP included? Maybe the quoted text that gave a description of some things the studio has worked on? Or was it the included link with even more information?

 

[Aenima]

Here’s their portfolio for anyone interested: https://versusevil.com/games

I’m usually not one to judge a book by its cover, but I’ve never heard of any of these games, and they strike me as a bit… uninspired.

Really sucks to get let go around the holidays, though.

Played Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire a few months ago. Really good RPG developed by Obsidian.

 

[Xion_Stellar]

Well that sucks the publishing arms continue to get less diverse.

So what's going to happen to Broken Roads? Are they going to have to find a different publisher? Because I have that game on my Steam Wish list and it's supposed to come out "early 2024"