Indie Publisher Versus Evil, Known For The Banner Saga, Has Closed Down

Versus Evil, the indie publishing studio known widely for publishing The Banner Saga, has reportedly shut down days before Christmas, with the entire team being laid off.

The news originated from Head of Production Lance James on X/Twitter, where he wrote, "Welp. That was a great 10 year ride. The entire Versus Evil team has just been laid off."

In a reply, he noted that this was "not a Versus Evil decision or choice."

Versus Evil confirmed the news themselves on their own X/Twitter account, saying that the studio "is shutting its doors." The studio provided no information about why the shutdown, or the layoffs, happened.

Versus Evil community manager Chris "Trippi" added in his own X/Twitter post that the publisher's parent company, tinyBuild, was behind the layoffs. TinyBuild is known for publishing popular horror series Hello Neighbor. The news that Versus Evil is shutting down comes just one day after Atari announced they'd invest $2 million in tinyBuild.

The news also comes just a few weeks after Versus Evil's founder, Steve Escalante, left the company, which he started back in 2013. TinyBuild didn't acquire the company until 8 years later, in 2021.

Many users in the replies noted that the shutdown happened in the last work week before Christmas, which will leave all its 13 employees without jobs - and perhaps without health insurance - in the new year.