Zynga has officially closed Echtra Games, the development studio behind Torchlight 3. This was working on a cross-platform ARPG that had not been announced in the four years since the acquisition.
Passthecontroller can confirm that the San Francisco-based studio will be closed by the end of the month. Although there is no exact number effect, LinkedIn has 61 people listing their current jobs in the studio.
Zynga has provided the following statement to Passthecontroller:
Zynga made the difficult decision to shut down business at Echtra Studio, ending development of future titles and cutting roles. This decision is part of a strategic restructuring of company resources and priorities. We are treated with the utmost respect and consideration as we work closely with affected employees to navigate this challenging process.
Echtra Games was founded by Max Schaefer, one of the co-founders of Torchlight Developer Runic Games. Schafer also left Lunic after his fellow co-founders left the studio as well and founded Ektra to tackle Torchlight MMO under the Perfect World of Investors. Over time, the vision of the game shifted, eventually becoming Torch Light Frontier and later Torch Light 3. In 2021, the Extra Game was acquired by Zynga, and Torchlight 3 was in the hands of the perfect world, with “new, yet unannounced RPG” and CSR Racing and Star Wars: Hunters DevelopermationMatermotion:
Unfortunately, Echtra Games RPGs were not announced or displayed. The closure occurs just three months after Zynga announced it would close Star Wars, developed with NaturalMotion, but it is unclear exactly why Echtra was closed. In particular, Zynga is a subsidiary of Grand Theft Auto Publisher Take-Two Interactive. The publisher also fired about 5% of the workforce over a year ago and cancelled multiple projects.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at Passthecontroller. You can find her posts at Bluesky @Duckvalentine.bsky.social. Do you have any tips for the story? Send to [email protected].
