Echtra Games, a studio run by a Diablo creator that was reported to be working on an ARPG, has been shut down by its parent publisher, Zynga. The closure was reported and independently confirmed by IGN.
“This decision is part of a strategic realignment of the company’s resources and priorities,” reads a Zynga statement made to IGN. “We will work closely with impacted employees so they are treated with the utmost respect and consideration as we navigate this difficult process.”
Echtra Games was made by Max Schaefer, a co-creator of Diablo and Blizzard Games, after leaving his Torchlight studio Runic Games. He started Echtra Games in 2016 under Perfect World to create a Torchlight MMORPG, but when it was acquired in 2021 by Zynga, the Torchlight project was left to Perfect World.
Since the acquisition, Echtra worked on a cross-platform ARPG that still never saw the light of day—not even a working title.
Echtra is the latest in a steady but still devastating pattern of game studio layoffs occurring since 2022. According to independent tracker Obsidian, 2024 had the most layoffs since, with over 14,000 lost jobs tracked, and so far there are over 2,000 with Echtra included.
