Entire Annapurna Game Team Resigns
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41526074
Entire staff of game publisher Annapurna Interactive has reportedly resigned
That makes it an attractive company name, I guess.
From absolute tropical jungle, through all other climates to frozen high altitude icy desert and all the way back, top point is 5,400m high. Also at one point hinduism of lowlands switches to buddhism. Wild marihuana growing everywhere. Muktinath just after(before) the highest pass is an important sacred and pilgrimage place for 3 different religions.
There is one point in Kali Gandaki gorge where you look left and there is absolute tibetan-style desert with 0 plants, just rocks and dirt, going up to Manang region. You look right and its typical tropical jungle. And in between, in span of maybe 7-8km the whole gradient happens continuously on Annapurna western slopes. Another nice spot is IIRC Marpha where you are looking at almost 5000m pretty much vertical drop on cca top of Dhaulaghiri, its sister 8000m+ peak. Even after 2 weeks of constant exposition to himalayan giants I just stood there in awe.
A life changing experience for me due to various factors and also people met. It has a special place in my heart.
> The mountain is named after Annapurna, the Hindu goddess of food and nourishment, who is said to reside there. The name Annapurna is derived from the Sanskrit-language words purna ("filled") and anna ("food"), and can be translated as "everlasting food".[8] Many streams descending from the slopes of the Annapurna Massif provide water for the agricultural fields and pastures located at lower elevations.[9]
Dramatic irony?
- Outer Wilds
- Stray
- Lorelei and the laser eyes
- Cocoon
- Neon White
...and others. https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/annapurnainteractiv...
This is a real shame for anyone who cares about really distinctive, original games.
Who will talk/write about it and for how much? Yters have steep pricing, and they usually don't give a F about your project.
That's why Steam and other similar platforms are a trap. And yet, people protect/love them, like it's the 8th wonder of the world.
Sure, if you only look at it from the developer perspective. From the player perspective, having a centralized location to find and download games is massive. I'm not saying there aren't tradeoffs, but looking at it from only one side ignores all of the reasons that it's successful in the first place.
Because if they lose interest and everything explodes, you're out of a job and they're still a billionaire.
But yes, this is an extreme scenario. it sounds (crudely put) like Ellison saw the pandemic, completely retreated for a while, then decided to come back and act like nothing changed and just shuffeled stuff around. Then when her labor decided they wanted to be more independent she sat on her hands.
I'm just proud the workers for a rare time could actually just completely walk away. Many issues would be solved almmost overnight if workers could coordinate a joint walkout like this.
It's a long story, so if you are just wondering about their portfolio, you can skip to the end section "The Future of Annapura".
How does such an industry survive? In a very round about manner that has nothing to do with what they say they do.
General rule in life - Don't focus on the drama a fucked up environment produces.
can you clarify this statement? I just read this as "companies need to make money, creatives aren't focused on money".
> Don't focus on the drama a fucked up environment produces.
if you somehow found this politics/drama free work environment with no creative tensions whatsoever, congratulations I suppose. Most of us don't have that and are only one whim away from those "dramas" costing us our jobs, even if we keep our heads down.
There's more than one person can ever experience. But the ratio of production to consumption is still quite small. Most stuff put on the internet is going to be seen by someone (e.g. 95% of youtube videos have at least one view).
Is it though? Annapurna is a publisher, they didn't make those games. The games you listed were made by:
- Outer Wilds: Mobius Digital
- Stray: BlueTwelve Studio
- Lorelei and the laser eyes: Simogo
- Cocoon: Geometric Interactive
- Neon White: Angel Matrix
That confidence is (partially) misplaced. It's a really rough world out there for indie devs, and if you do find a publisher, many times they are not interested in paying as much attention to your title as you are.
Edit: Oops, no they're not, see below. But it sounds like they're contractually prevented from working with a different publisher.
Shame they lose the name, but the talent is what makes the company. And I'm sure any small dev will be following them closely on their next venture.
[1] https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/elon-musk-pigeon-ceo-former-t...
Great games, but all you listed are barely 3 years old – can something that young already be considered a "classic"?
Its a magical game and the community protects the experience for future players, as its impossible to 'rediscover it' again.
Otherwise it’s not so different from saying that Everest isn’t a mountain in Nepal, but rather an English Surveyor General of India.
Similarly Annapurna the region has much greater recognition amongst non-Hindus than Annapurna the goddess.
I imagine well get more developments over the coming weeks on that.
https://simogo.com/2020/03/10/simogo-annapurna-interactive-t...
In my memory, this post said "we're now owned by Annapurna." But I read it again and it literally says the opposite.
But yeah, it sounds like they can't just switch publishers.
If you are not part of organized group (I went solo), without prior booking it may be tricky to find accommodation in Gorak Shep, sort of bottleneck since everybody goes to EBC for morning views on the top of the world and its the closest place. I ended up convincing one of owners of guest house there to let me sleep with them in dining room, it was -10C outside and my sleeping bag would not be up to that, even in dining room it was just above freezing.
Wishing you good weather for nice views from Kala Patthar and on Ama Dablam!
I've never heard it described in this way, and I'm actually tempted.
That being said, please manage your expectations, what was a wonderful profound experience for me may end up being a very different one for you. The best is to go there 1) physically prepared for long hikes with some backpack (not heavy but not just daily pack neither); 2) have your mind open to handle everything that comes your way as part of adventure, both good and bad.
Plus careful with hygiene, mostly using hands sanitizer before touching any food, eating just freshly cooked meals. Some folks I know ended up with subpar experience due to catching nasty stomach infection which made it too hard to enjoy it. Using consistently hand sanitizer before any meal may be common stuff now but in 2008 I raised some eyebrows. But 3 months of backpacking in India and this and no stomach issue with such approach, that's pretty rare.
It's not nearly as simple as you're making it out, and those of us that work in large capital industries (tech), have a very different relationship than the majority of workers in America.
I'm not saying we don't share problems, or that they don't have their own issues that are worse, just that your view doesn't reflect the total of reality
Publishers have benefits, there’s a reason some game, developers, and other type of media creators will eagerly sign away a big chunk of their revenue. Not true for every media or genre, but there’s a reason these companies exist.