The company was founded as a division of
Annapurna Pictures on December 1, 2016 to expand into the video game industry. Its early staff was composed of existing Annapurna executives, producer Neale Hemrajani, technology head James Masi along with several video game veterans, including Nathan Gary, Deborah Mars, Hector Sanchez, and Jeff Legaspi, who had worked in
Sony Interactive Entertainment's
Santa Monica Studio and
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Jenova Chen was the company's advisor. The company aimed to publish games that are "personal, emotional, and original". Annapurna Interactive acquired games that were in development at Santa Monica Studio's external development division, including
What Remains of Edith Finch and
Wattam. In 2017, Annapurna announced that it would begin publishing more games, which included
The Artful Escape,
Ashen, and
Telling Lies.
2020–2023: Game development and film studio In October 2020, Annapurna established an internal development studio in
Los Angeles. Also in 2020, Annapurna signed a multi-year publishing agreement with Swedish studio Simogo. Leading into the
COVID-19 pandemic, Annapurna Pictures had been struggling with financial issues, and its CEO
Megan Ellison had stepped back while her father
Larry Ellison helped to stabilize the company and other executives departed. Megan Ellison eventually reappeared around 2021, and promoted Gary to president of Annapurna Pictures, while Mars and Nathan Vella, former president of
Capybara Games, were promoted to co-manage Annapurna Interactive. According to sources speaking to
IGN, Gary's management put more resources into the gaming division, as well as promoting Masi to chief administration officer for Annapurna Pictures. Gary also claimed to have established
Annapurna Animation, an animation division of Annapurna Pictures, with its premiere work being
Nimona, though other sources stated this had been credited to Ellison. As a result, there was a matter of distrust between Ellison and Annapurna Interactive, leading to a hands-off approach for the publisher to continue to group. A similar limited edition box set was released for the Nintendo Switch in late 2023. In June 2022, Annapurna announced the formation of an internal game development studio headed by Chelsea Hash. Its first game,
Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, was announced in 2023. In November 2023, Annapurna Interactive made its first acquisition in South African studio 24 Bit Games, a studio which had provided support for other indie games such as
Gone Home,
Neon White, and
Cocoon.
2024–present: Mass resignations, Remedy Entertainment partnership, and game releases In March 2024, the company's staff were informed that Masi's role was considered unnecessary and that Gary would be the head of Annapurna Interactive despite him also leaving the company. Some staff resigned as a result but later returned along with Masi and Gary to discuss a spin-off of the company that would be able to sign deals independent of Annapurna in addition to overseeing existing Annapurna Interactive projects. At the end of August, Annapurna Interactive’s 25-person staff resigned in a joint resignation letter with two weeks notice after spin-off discussions were stalled then ended. Further attempts to reengage Ellison on the spin-off did not receive interest. Some developers with projects under Annapurna Interactive, including
Davey Wreden and
C418, and Beethoven & Dinosaur stated its forthcoming or planned games were not affected. Annapurna announced that development of
Silent Hill: Townfall and
Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth would continue. In January 2025, Leanne Loombe joined Annapurna Interactive as executive vice president and head of games. Annapurna released
Wanderstop in March 2025, developed by Ivy Road and composed by
C418. In April 2025,
Lushfoil Photography Sim and first person shooter
Skin Deep were released by Annapurna.
To a T, with development led by
Keita Takahashi was released in May. The adventure-racing title
Wheel World was released during summer 2025. In 2025, Annapurna Interactive announced a publishing deal with The
Lego Group via the title
Lego Voyagers, developed by
Light Brick Studio, and was later released in September 2025 At the Tokyo Game Show in 2025, Annapurna revealed three new games: puzzle-adventure
D-topia developed by Marumittu Games,
People of Note a turn-based RPG musical by Iridium Studios, and
Demi and the Fractured Dream from developer Yarn Owl. ==Games==