Indie game studio Possibility Space has shut down, and the CEO blames a reporter

Possibility spacean independent game studio with employees distributed around the world, was abruptly shut down today by its CEO, Jeff Strain, and former employees. She revealed on Twitter. The studio launched in 2021 with the aim of creating a AAA title, and has also hired industry luminaries such as Waypoint’s Austin Walker and Ubisoft designer Liz England. Its closure follows the closing last month of Crop Circle Games, another studio owned by Strain’s Prytania Media, which he co-founded with his wife Annie Delisi Strain.

In an email I received Polygon reporter Nicole CarpenterStrain said he was “stunned” to learn that confidential information about the studio’s flagship title, codenamed Project Vonnegut, had been shared with Kotaku reporter Ethan Gatch. Strain claims that an unnamed publisher “expressed low confidence” about financing the studio further, leading to a mutual agreement to cancel the title. After that, he decided to close the studio completely.

Possibility Space isn’t the first studio to have game details leaked to the press, and it’s unclear why this information was serious enough to lose publisher funding (and don’t forget, this is only Strain’s version of events).

Earlier this month, Annie DeLisi Strain also issued a similarly confusing message (Via IGN) where she blamed the Crop Circle Game’s closure on the economic downturn, but additionally revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She claimed, without evidence, that Kotaku’s Gach likely published her health details without consulting her: “I resigned from my position as CEO this winter on medical leave, and while I do not know the content of Mr. Gach’s article, I have no assurances. That my personal health is struggling as CEO A rarity for the gaming industry that will not be covered in his article.”