Zynga suddenly shuts down studio from Diablo and Torchlight creators before they even had a chance to reveal its first original IP

Mobile game empire and publisher Zynga is reportedly shutting down Torchlight 3 developer Echtra Games by the end of June.

In a statement provided to GamesRadar+ – it's the same statement Zynga sent to IGN, which broke the studio closure news – a PR representative tells us "Zynga has made the difficult decision to cease operations at its Echtra studio, ending development on future titles and reducing roles."

"This decision is part of a strategic realignment of the company's resources and priorities," the representative continues in the official PR statement. "We will work closely with impacted employees so they are treated with the utmost respect and consideration as we navigate this difficult process." One former Echtra designer appears to already be looking for work on LinkedIn.

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Diablo co-creators and Blizzard North founders Max and Erich Schaefer created Echtra alongside other Blizzard vets in 2016; four years later, the studio released Torchlight 3, its first – and now, only – game.

Since 2021, after being acquired by Zynga – which itself was soon after acquired by Take-Two for $12.7 billion – Echtra has been working on an unannounced cross-platform RPG alongside NaturalMotion.

But NaturalMotion had been struggling under Zynga, too. The studio released the full version of the free-to-play arena shooter Star Wars: Hunters last year, though NaturalMotion already plans to take the game's online servers down October 1 after reportedly facing layoffs at Zynga.

Last year, Zynga's parent company Take-Two also announced nearly 600 layoffs and $140 million in canceled projects.

Helldivers 2 CEO says industry layoffs have seen "very little accountability" from executives who "let go of one third of the company because you made stupid decisions."