Rooster Teeth, the leisure firm behind the favored Halo parody Red vs. Blue and magical woman action-series RWBY, is shutting down after 21 years.
The information was introduced at an all-hands assembly on March 6 alongside a staff-wide memo from Rooster Teeth common supervisor Jordan Levin, based on Variety. The memo states the corporate’s closure got here on account of “challenges dealing with digital media ensuing from elementary shifts in client conduct and monetization throughout platforms, promoting, and patronage.”
Warner Bros. Discovery is in talks to sell-off a few of Rooster Teeth’s hottest mental property, together with Red vs. Blue. The present popularized machinima with its use of the Halo recreation collection to inform its story and put Rooster Teeth on the map again when it began in 2003, the identical yr the corporate was based. In newer years Rooster Teeth has turn into extra related to its anime-inspired unique present RWBY, which has run for 9 seasons and spawned a number of spin-offs and video video games.
Greater than 150 full-time staff shall be laid off following Rooster Teeth’s closure, which can even impact numerous contractors and content material creators who accomplice with the corporate. Warner Bros. Discovery is moreover trying to promote the Roost podcast community, an off-shoot of Rooster Teeth that produces podcasts on a wide range of subjects starting from gaming to true crime. Roost will proceed to function within the meantime till a possible purchaser is discovered.
In keeping with Selection, Rooster Teeth has operated at a loss for the previous decade, and its annual fan conference, RTX (which was not too long ago canceled in 2024 previous to information of the corporate’s shutdown), has by no means been worthwhile. In 2022, the corporate got here underneath hearth following allegations from a former employee of low-pay and harassment. Rooster Teeth in a statement mentioned it was “disheartened to listen to of anybody who has skilled ache” whereas working on the firm, and that it might work to handle and examine previous conduct because it moved ahead. The corporate rebranded final yr with a brand new emblem and tagline, “Simply Enjoying,” to rejoice its twentieth anniversary.
Levin in his memo saying the closure spent a number of paragraphs commemorating Rooster Teeth’s numerous accomplishments over time, and said administration is “working via what comes subsequent in actual time” so as to “implement the easiest way to wind issues down for us and our group.”
“Although not intentional, it is solely applicable that our final season of ‘Red vs. Blue’ coincides with us navigating this closure collectively,” Levin mentioned within the staff-wide memo. “Our legacy is not only a group of content material however a historical past of pixels burned into our screens, minds, and hearts. Rooster Teeth has made an indelible mark on the media trade, and we needs to be so pleased with the numerous methods we pioneered a enterprise connecting creators and content material with a devoted group.”