Zynga Shuts Down Echtra Games | PC Games Insider

Okay, so, here’s a wild ride through the end of Echtra Games, a studio that—I mean, honestly—had some interesting times. So, boom, Zynga just pulled the plug on them. Imagine that.

So, I stumbled across this thing on IGN, right? Apparently, Take-Two, which owns Zynga (yeah, layers upon layers), is playing some big game with their resources. Strategic realignment, they call it. Sounds fancy, huh?

Picture this: Max Schaefer, the dude who co-started Runic Games, decided to pack his bags in 2016. Not sure what prompted him to leave, but it must have been something. Anyway, he went on to set up Echtra Games. It’s a bit like starting a new chapter in a strange city you’ve always wanted to visit. Echtra popped out Torchlight 3 into the world in 2020, thanks to Perfect World.

Then comes Zynga in 2021, sweeping in like, “Hey, we’ll take that!” No clue how much they tossed for it. Meanwhile, Perfect World’s still sitting cozy with Torchlight 3. Oh, and Echtra didn’t just twiddle its thumbs at Zynga. Nah, they dived into an RPG that nobody’s heard of because—surprise!—it’s hush-hush. Plus, they lent a hand with CSR Racing and, um, a Star Wars game that had its own kind of messiness.

Now get this, Zynga starts issuing goodbye letters to Echtra. It’s like, they decided to shut things down and were all, “Let’s realign our priorities.” Business speak, am I right?

They’re saying they’ll be nice about it, though. Treating employees with respect and all that as they wind things down. It’s a lot, really. Some dreams fade like that one song you can’t remember from a distant summer evening. Anyway, that’s the scoop.