Star Wars: Hunters Publisher Closes Torchlight Studio

Zynga has officially closed Echtra Games, the studio responsible for Torchlight 3, which had spent the past four years developing an unrevealed cross-platform ARPG following its acquisition.

IGN confirms the San Francisco-based studio will cease operations by month's end. While the exact number of affected employees remains unclear, LinkedIn shows 61 individuals currently listing Echtra as their workplace.

Zynga shared this official statement with IGN:

Zynga has made the difficult choice to wind down Echtra studio operations, discontinuing future game development and reducing staff positions. This aligns with our strategic resource reallocation and priority adjustments. We're committed to supporting impacted team members with respect and care throughout this transition.

Echtra Games was established by Max Schaefer, co-founder of Torchlight creator Runic Games and Blizzard North veteran who contributed to Diablo's creation. After Schaefer's colleagues departed Runic, he founded Echtra with Perfect World's backing to develop a Torchlight MMO. The project evolved through multiple iterations, ultimately becoming Torchlight 3. Following Zynga's 2021 acquisition, Echtra pivoted to developing an undisclosed cross-platform RPG in collaboration with CSR Racing and Star Wars: Hunters studio NaturalMotion.

The unreleased RPG never reached public announcement. Echtra's closure follows Zynga's decision to sunset NaturalMotion's Star Wars: Hunters just nine months post-launch. Notably, Zynga parent company Take-Two Interactive recently restructured its Private Division division and conducted layoffs affecting 5% of its workforce last year, alongside multiple project cancellations.