Private Division and Annapurna have ended up in an odd, but positive, position at the start of 2025.
In September of last year, Annapurna Interactive’s entire staff quit the company, in the fallout of escalating conflict between the video game division’s management, and Annapurna’s higher-ups. This conflict, which seems to be about creative direction and did not involve foul play, drew in no less than its owner, Megan Ellison.
In the fallout, it seems that the company has simply refilled the division with new staff. The fate of the original staff was uncertain, although it seemed that they were determined to keep working in video game publishing.
And then, in November, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed that they had sold off Private Division. Private Division was their label to publish small independent games, such as Evening Star’s Penny’s Big Breakaway and Wētā Workshop’s Tales of the Shire: A “The Lord of the Rings” Game.
We will note here that as a publisher of blockbuster AAAs like Grand Theft Auto V, the label seems to be a complete misnomer. Private Division worked with companies that are clearly separate from them, like Obsidian and Game Freak, and the size of those studios would make it clear the indie label is misused for their projects as well.
So what we’re saying here is that Take-Two, and to some degree, Annapurna Interactive, were really using the indie label for marketing purposes, given the association that independently made games have when it comes to scale, aesthetics, and other characteristics found in small games. But at least this time the indie label will be at least a little bit more accurate.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Private Division’s buyers have formed a new company independent of Take-Two or any other bigger game companies. Zelnick hinted that the buyer would reveal itself, and that turned out to be a private equity firm named Haveli Investments. Haveli will honor Private Division’s pre-existing contracts, including Tales of the Shire: A “The Lord of the Rings” Game, Game Freak’s unannounced title, codenamed Project Bloom, and Kerbal Space Program.
To that end, Haveli hired Annapurna’s former staff to help run the new company, but it seems that they may not keep the Private Division label. There’s certainly a painful irony here, as these deals were not secured in time to save Kerbal Space Program’s developer, Intercept Games. Given that Intercept Games was itself founded by Take-Two to mess with the franchise’s creator, Star Theory Games, that’s two times that Take-Two harmed the franchise.
But knowing what we do now, we can be hopeful for the future of Kerbal Space Program, Project Bloom, and these other Private Division projects. We certainly look forward to when Haveli finally decides to make their grand announcement for their new game company.
