Over the past couple of years we’ve been keeping a general eye on the opening of Crop Circle Games, a new indie studio formed by Jeff Strain, primarily because of his association with ArenaNet as its former co-founder, though there was never word on what kind of plans it had beyond “a focus on new IPs.” It looks like the world will never know what those plans will be, as the studio’s parent company Prytania Media (which Strain also owns) has closed Crop Circle completely – a fact that’s only known because of former employee testimonials on LinkedIn.
The news was first shared by former business operations manager Luna Jade, who posted her frustration with the silent shutdown. “Delighted that Prytania Media waited until the end of #GDC to notify its furloughed employees Crop Circle Games is closing and we have been officially terminated,” she wrote.
Further context about the situation was provided by former principal content designer Jennifer Klasing, who added that employees were required to “sign away [their] right to compensation from any NLRB or DLR action in exchange for an extra 2 months of healthcare. Healthcare that we know they already paid for.”
Readers may remember that Klasing was an original whistleblower when Crop Circle furloughed employees in February, when she claimed that employees were fired via email and called out a reported lack of severance pay – a claim that has since been corroborated by former recruiter Alexandra Lockhart in the wake of the studio shutdown.
Even those who appear to be trying to keep professional bridges built are giving Strain the side-eye, as former gameplay programmer Vanessa Prinsen notes:
“I spent a fantastic year and a half working with a supremely talented team on a game that I’m sad will never see the light of day… and then I spent a weird two months with that same team, collectively dealing with a furlough/layoff that unfolded in the messiest, least respectful way imaginable.”
At the time of writing, there is no word on Prytania’s other subsidiaries Possibility Space and Fang & Claw, while most of the affected employees appear to be focusing on finding new work, though Klasing claims in a reply that workers are speaking to an employment lawyer about the matter.
