Puny Human, a developer formed in 2007 that made Dystopia and Blade Symphony and contributed to a number of high-profile games, is closing down for good. The company will lay off all remaining full-time staff by the end of the year and is taking steps to liquidate assets and sell off select IP. The company will make some of its products open-source. This is happening in part because of a contract dispute.
Puny Human employed 20 full-time staff. Losing the team and the company is "heartbreaking," CEO and studio manager Mike Sanders said. "A client refused previously agreed-upon payments, which deprived us of the cash flow to fully pitch" an in-progress game. This led to "successive failures in our operating income," Sanders said.
the CEO explained.
Since 2016, Puny operated as an "outside development vendor" and worked alongside other studios on games like The Callisto Protocol, Trover Saves the Universe, Bard's Tale IV, and Tribes of Midgard.