Worker-owned cooperative studio The Glory Society is suspending operations after four years of development on its exploration game Revenant Hill.
The studio announced its shuttering today via posts on social media and on its official website, stating that the closure was "amicable" and the decision of the entire group following "serious health issues" that impacted two key team members who were "hard to replace."
It's unclear whether this is the end of the studio itself, but The Glory Society did confirm this is the end of development on Revenant Hill. Revenant Hill was unveiled earlier this year at a PlayStation showcase, seemingly indicating that at the time it was still on track for release. The game had a similar art and exploration style to Night in the Woods, but took place in 1919 in a rapidly changing community.
The rest of The Glory Society's statement is as follows:
We are a cooperative, and we make decisions as a group. For us, this was the clear path to take for the well-being of the team, which is frankly more important than games. In the future, after the dust has settled, perhaps we'll talk about what we've made and learned together. In the meantime, we want to thank everyone who worked with us, supported us, and believed in us
Sometimes things happen beyond your control that change the available options and you just have to roll with it together. Glory was a project in and of itself, and it’s one we’re proud to have been part of. Thank you for caring about what we did. Take care of each other, and support the workers doing the labor of making the games you love. We'll see you around.
Update: In a statement on Twitter, studio co-creator Scott Benson specified further some of the health issues, saying that he had been diagnosed with severe heart failure, "most likely from a virus" that was impacting his ability to work:
So. Over the past 12 months or so I got very sick and it didn't go away. Eventually I was diagnosed with severe heart failure, most likely from a virus. It will continue to greatly limit me for the foreseeable future and as such I've had to stop working in the manner I once did.
— Down Here For Your Soul (@bombsfall) November 7, 2023
Original story continues: The Glory Society was founded back in 2019 by Scott Benson, Bethany Hockenberry, and Wren Farren after Benson and Hockenberry's work together on Night in the Woods. The studio was built as a cooperative where employees make decisions together, democratically, rather than being run by a CEO or other singular leader. Other worker coops in the industry include studios such as Motion Twin, KO_OP, Future Club, Soft Not Weak, and Lucid Tales.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
