Zynga Shuts Down Echtra Games | PC Games Insider

Sure, here you go:

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So, picture this: Echtra Games, the brain behind Torchlight 3 – yeah, the one with all those colorful dungeons and loot – just got the plug pulled by Zynga. Yep, shut down, kaput. Kinda wild, right?

Okay, so here’s what went down: Zynga, which is like this huge entity under Take-Two, you know? Anyway, they decided to close the San Francisco office because they want to… realign things. Whatever that means. I bet someone just drew a flowchart that made zero sense to anyone else.

Now, get this – Echtra was started by Max Schaefer. You might know him? He was part of Runic Games and helped make the OG Torchlight and the sequel from 2012. Seems like he’s been around the block a few times. He left and created Echtra in 2016, and yeah, they dropped Torchlight 3 in 2020 with Perfect World. Still with me?

Fast forward to 2021, Zynga comes in, swoops up Echtra for… some cash? Who knows, they kept it hush-hush. But Perfect World still has Torchlight 3, so it’s not going anywhere – at least for now. Echtra was even cooking up some secret cross-platform RPG and had a hand in CSR Racing and Star Wars: Hunters, which has seen better days, let’s be real.

Then bam, Zynga said they’re shutting Echtra down. Just like that. They’re pulling the plug not just on ongoing projects but trimming the team too. It’s all part of that strategic dance. They did say they’d support the folks impacted. I hope they mean it because – let’s be honest – this industry can be rougher than sandpaper.

Weird times, huh?