Warner Bros. is killing Red vs. Blue production company Rooster Teeth

After 21 years, Warner Bros. is shutting down Rooster Teeth, the production company behind Red vs. Blue and RWBY, among other titles. The process is expected to take several months, according to a notice from Rooster Teeth general manager Jordan Levin, published Wednesday on the Rooster Teeth website. The Roost Podcast Network, which boasts podcasts like Kinda Funny and RT Podcast, will stay with Warner Bros. as the company looks to sell the network.

Warner Bros. will still release a completed, unspecified Rooster Teeth-produced movie and other in-the-works projects, and is “exploring options” for Rooster Teeth’s content, according to Deadline. Variety reported Wednesday that around 150 full-time workers will be laid off, with “dozens of contractors and content creators” suddenly impacted, too.

Levin attributed the closure to “challenges facing digital media resulting from fundamental shifts in consumer behavior and monetization across platforms, advertising, and patronage.”

The company was founded in 2003, and with it came Red vs. Blue, a machinima-styled show that used Halo to tell a story about two groups of isolated, opposing soldiers dropped into a barren canyon. The show quickly became a hit; it took a game people loved — the original Halo — and created a parody of both wartime narratives and military video games. Most importantly, it was just funny — at least, it was to me as a teenager. Twenty-one years later, I still sometimes mumble a line from the first episode to myself: You ever wonder why we’re here? Red vs. Blue’s final season is slated for this year.

“Though not intentional, It’s only appropriate that our last season of ‘Red vs. Blue’ coincides with us navigating this closure together,” Levin wrote. “Our legacy is not just a collection of content but a history of pixels burned into our screens, minds, and hearts. Rooster Teeth has made an indelible mark on the media industry, and we should be so proud of the countless ways we pioneered a business connecting creators and content with a dedicated community.”

Rooster Teeth eventually branched out from there, with shows like Achievement Unlocked and Let’s Play. It’s next major hit, an anime-style web series called RWBY, debuted in 2013. The next year, Fullscreen acquired Rooster Teeth before the production company debuted its first movie, Lazer Team. That acquisition kicked off a string of mergers and restructurings that led to Rooster Teeth’s consolidation under AT&T. AT&T tried to sell Rooster Teeth in 2021, saying its revenue dropped by $20 million in 2019. Rooster Teeth didn’t get sold, so it was included in the AT&T deal that merged WarnerMedia with Discovery to create Warner Bros. Discovery.

Rooster Teeth, while still popular, struggled to maintain the janky charm and easy humor of its earliest days. The company also faced several serious controversies, including RWBY actor Vic Mignogna’s removal from the show after allegations of sexual harassment, as well as several instances of alleged workplace misconduct.

On social media, Rooster Teeth fans looked to support the company’s laid-off staff, and called the imminent shutdown “an end of an era.” Though Rooster Teeth has changed a ton over the years — and not always for the better — a lot of people look back fondly on the works it created.

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• Source: https://www.polygon.com/24092726/rooster-teeth-shut-down-warner-bros