Former Annapurna Interactive staff reportedly taking over Private Division portfolio following Take-Two sale

Former Annapurna Interactive staff - who departed the acclaimed video game publisher last September as part of a "mass exodus" - have reportedly established a new company and will be taking over indie label Private Division's portfolio, which was sold by Take-Two last year.

Annapurna's entire video game division - responsible for publishing the celebrated likes of Cocoon, Outer Wilds, and Sayonara Wild Hearts - departed the company late last year, reportedly following a dispute with owner Megan Ellison. At the time, there was suggestion all 25 former employees might reunite under a new name, Verset, which was originally intended to be an Annapurna Interactive spin-off before negotiations broke down.

And now, Bloomberg reports former Annapurna Interactive staff are indeed working together again, as part of a still-unnamed new company, which is said to have inherited the games and franchises of Private Division - the indie-focused label behind the likes of Kerbal Space Program 2 that was sold by Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive in November.

At the time, Take-Two said it had made the decision to sell the label so it could focus its resources on "growing our core and mobile businesses for the long-term", and that the unnamed buyer had purchased the rights to "substantially all" of Private Division's live and unreleased titles - with the exception of Moon Studios' No Rest for the Wicked.

According to Bloomberg's latest report - which cites "people familiar" with the matter - Private Division's buyer was Texas-based private equity firm Haveli Investments. Haveli reportedly then struck a deal with ex-Annapurna employees to fund their new company and place them in charge of distributing the former Private Division titles. These are include the Kerbal Space Program series, upcoming Lord of the Rings farming game Tales of the Shire, and Pokémon developer Game Freak's new action-adventure IP.

Bloomberg adds the new arrangement will likely result in a number of layoffs among the approximately 20 Private Division employees Haveli inherited as part of its purchase, although specifics are reportedly still to be finalised.

As for what remains of Annapurna Interactive, the publisher previously said it was hiring to fill vacancies left following last year's mass exodus, and that it was "focused on moving forward". Annapurna's future projects - which all appear to be unaffected despite last September's events - include the likes of Mixtape from Beethoven and Dinosaur, Wanderstop from The Stanley Parable creator Davey Wreden, and No Code's Silent Hill: Townfall.

Annapurna Interactive's first in-house title, Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, seemingly faces more significant challenges, however. Game director Chelsea Hash and all other full-time members of the development team reportedly left amid last year's departures, but the company said work would continue despite these setbacks.