Are Leakers To Blame Over Possibility Space Studio Closure?

Republished By Plato

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The gaming studio Possibility Space was recently closed due to leaks from its staff; was this response justified?

Polygon Senior Reporter Nicole Carpenter (@SweetPotatoes) shared an email yesterday on Twitter/X penned by Possibility Space owner Jeff Strain. In it, he mentions that confidential all-hands information, disclosure of their publishing partner, and non-public information around Project Vonnegut were all referenced by Ethan Gach from Kotaku.

In a bizarre studio closure and layoff message to staff, Possibility Space owner Jeff Strain blamed the studio closure on employees leaking information to the press. pic.twitter.com/d4OHrm3z2N

— Nicole Carpenter (@sweetpotatoes) April 12, 2024

In response, Jeff Strain laid off all workers and shut down the studio, blaming its closure on leaks from employees to the press.

Wow. Possibility Space is seemingly shut down — all employees laid off this morning, per workers. The studio’s owner, Prytania Media, shut down another studio, Crop Circle, in March. A ton of people have lost their jobs because of it. Prytania owns two other studios. https://t.co/cg8qqBlHFj

— Nicole Carpenter (@sweetpotatoes) April 12, 2024

This also marks the second studio he’s closed in two months:

Jeff Strain, cofounder of Undead Labs, just shutdown Possibility Space, I’m told. It’s the second studio he’s suddenly closed in two months.

The surprise mass layoff announcement means dozens more have been thrust out into one of the worst markets for game developers ever. pic.twitter.com/UpNszjwqrx

— AmericanTruckSongs9 (@ethangach) April 12, 2024

It’s also worth noting that even though said leaks allegedly led to the publisher losing confidence and declining to fund the project, said story was never published.

The Possibility Space story is very strange.

CEO claims that staff leaked to the press, which led to their publisher losing confidence and declining to fund a project, leading to the studios immediate closure.

Thing is… the article isn’t published.https://t.co/0Sa44eQiCB

— Michael (@BellularGaming) April 13, 2024

What makes things interesting is Possibly Space parent company Prytania Media previously had their CEO Annie Delisi Strain (Jeff Strain’s wife) state that “game developers simply deserve better than what is happening in our industry right now.”

@PeterB on Twitter/X makes a good point too:

Regarding this Possibility Space closure: companies don’t lose funding because one rando violates their NDA. (If they did, workers at companies around the world have the chance to the do the funniest thing ever.)

The simpler explanations are (a) fraud or (b) poor management.

— Peter B 📈 (@peterb) April 13, 2024

When it comes to our recent poll, the opinion largely favors Jeff Strain being wrong, with everyone involved being wrong trailing behind:

What do you think? Are leakers to blame, or is there more to Possibility Space’s studio closure? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Twitter

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