Moss developer Polyarc Games announces closure

Moss developer Polyarc Games is shutting down after 12 years in operation.

The Seattle-based developer shared the news on LinkedIn, announcing its decision to “wind down active development.”

“After nearly 12 years riding the joyous rollercoaster of emotions that is making video games, our time together has come to an end,” it wrote.

Polyarc also shared a recruiting spreadsheet for staff affected by the closure.

“Working together over all of these years has been an honour. Bringing surprise and delight to those who played our games has been a privilege. Thank you to everyone at Polyarc, our work is now finished.”

GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to Polyarc for further context on the decision to shut the studio.

Polyarc’s closure follows the launch of Moss: The Forgotten Relic two months ago, which brought together the original two games outside of VR.

Earlier this year, Polyarc laid off 30 employees after it was unable to secure funding following the cancellation of a major project.

Polyarc was founded in 2015 by former Bungie devs Tam Armstrong, Danny Bulla, and Chris Alderson.

The studio released its debut VR adventure puzzle game Moss in 2018, followed by a sequel in 2022. Last year saw the launch of its online competitive VR strategy game, Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss.

Polyarc raised $3.5 million in 2016 to develop Moss and secured an additional $9 million in 2020 to expand into augmented reality.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in 2021, Polyarc’s publishing and communications director Lincoln Davis said AR was something the developer was “heavily looking into” to “evolve as a studio and adapt as a market changes.”

“When we came on with PlayStation with Moss, it was so early on in what type of content it was and it was a complete game experience… So if we can be early on with other technical advances and be that pioneer but add that Polyarc flavour or that Polyarc level of polish too, that would be great for us as a studio.”