Possibility Space, an independent game studio with employees spread across the world, was abruptly shut down today by CEO Jeff Strain and former employees revealed on twitter. The studio was founded in 2021 with the goal of creating AAA games, and has also hired industry luminaries such as Waypoint’s Austin Walker and Ubisoft designer Liz England. Last month, Crop Circle Games, another studio owned by Strain’s Prytania Media that he co-founded with his wife, Annie Delisi Strain, closed.
In a bizarre message to employees about studio closures and layoffs, Possibility Space boss Jeff Strain blamed the studio closure on employees leaking information to the media. pic.twitter.com/d4OHrm3z2N
— Nicole Carpenter (@sweetpotatoes) April 12, 2024
Get it in one email Polygon Report Nicole CarpenterStrain said he was “shocked” to learn that confidential information about the studio’s major title, codenamed “The Vonnegut Project,” was shared with Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach. Strahan claimed that an unnamed publisher “expressed low confidence” in further funding the studio, which led to both parties agreeing to cancel the title. He then decided to close the studio entirely.
Possibility Space isn’t the first studio to leak game details to the press, and it’s unclear why this information was enough to cost the publisher money (remember, this is just Strain’s version of events).
Last month, Annie Delisi Strain posted a similarly confusing email (via IGN ) in which she blamed the recession for the crop circle game’s closure, but also revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis . She claims, without evidence, that Kotaku’s Gach may have released her health details without consulting her: “I resigned as CEO this winter due to illness, and while I didn’t know Gach Mr. Wang’s article, but I cannot guarantee that as a rare female CEO in the gaming industry, my personal health issues will not be mentioned in his article.”
