Star Wars Hunters Studio Shuts Down Before Launch

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

IGN confirms the San Francisco-based studio will cease operations by month's end. While exact figures remain unconfirmed, LinkedIn shows 61 individuals currently employed at the studio.

Zynga provided IGN with this official statement:

Zynga has made the challenging decision to discontinue operations at Echtra studio, halting development on future projects and reducing staff. This move aligns with our company's strategic resource realignment. We remain committed to supporting affected employees throughout this transition with the respect and care they deserve.

Echtra Games was established by Max Schaefer, co-founder of Torchlight developer Runic Games and former Blizzard North co-founder who helped create Diablo. Schaefer departed Runic following other co-founders' exits and launched Echtra with Perfect World's backing to develop a Torchlight MMO. The project evolved into Torchlight Frontiers before finally releasing as Torchlight 3. When Zynga acquired Echtra in 2021, Perfect World retained Torchlight 3 while Echtra began developing "an unannounced cross-platform RPG" alongside NaturalMotion, known for CSR Racing and Star Wars: Hunters.

The studio's RPG project never received an official announcement. Echtra's closure follows Zynga's recent decision to sunset NaturalMotion's Star Wars: Hunters just nine months post-launch. Notably, Zynga operates under Take-Two Interactive, which significantly restructured its Private Division division earlier this year. The parent company previously cut 5% of its workforce and canceled several projects in 2023.