Echtra Games has been shut down by Zynga roughly four years after its acquisition. The studio is best known for creating Torchlight 3. Prior to its closure, Echtra Games was working on its first title since its acquisition in 2021.
Group photograph of Echtra Games devs (photo credit: Echtra Games)
“Zynga has made the difficult decision to cease operations at its Echtra studio, ending development on future titles and reducing roles,” said Zynga in a statement sent to IGN.
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“This decision is part of a strategic realignment of the company’s resources and priorities. We will work closely with impacted employees so they are treated with the utmost respect and consideration as we navigate this difficult process.”
Echtra Games was founded in 2016 by Diablo co-creator Max Schaefer and his friends David Glenn, Tyler Thompson, and Justin Miller. While the studio lasted, their focus was on building “the best in multiplatform gaming”.
It is not immediately clear if some of the devs at Echtra Games would be relocated to other projects. Also, Zynga didn’t disclose the number of employees that would be let go. However, one report claimed around 60 employees would be affected.
Echtra Games’ unannounced project was an AAA ARPG
While we knew Echtra Games was working on an unannounced title, little was known about the project, which has now been cancelled. However, through the post of senior producer Melissa Gainer, we now know that the cancelled game was a triple-A ARPG.
“I am so SO proud of the progress we made on our unannounced AAA ARPG, and the very talented individuals I got to work alongside,” Gainer wrote in a LinkedIn post, pouring out how she was impacted by the layoff.
Several other former employees of the studio have posted about being laid off or looking for a new role, including QA lead Steven Hasch, audio engineer Guy Somberg, technical art director Howard Day, software engineer Kevin Le, and many others that we unfortunately couldn’t capture in this post.
While the number of layoffs and studio closures in 2025 is nothing compared to that of the previous year, stories like this one are a reminder that all is not well with the industry just yet.
