Indie studio Funomena may close after abuse allegations, financial concerns

Funomena is an Indie Game Studio and the Developer behind Games Wattam, Luna, and other “playful, experimental, and emotionally engaging experiences,” said Tuesday it may be “forced to close the studio,” citing financial concerns. News of Funomena’s possible closure was reported Tuesday by People Make Games’ Chris Bratt, who had previously covered allegations of abuse and workplace mistreatment made against the studio’s co-founder, Robin Hunicke.

Bratt shared the findings of his investigations into three independent studios, Fullbright and Mountains in a recent episode on People Make Games. Bratt said that he’d interviewed eight former employees of Funomena who had either worked on WattamThe game is from Katamari Damacy designer Keita Takahashi, or Luna, a 2017 “interactive PC and VR fairytale.” Those employees described emotional abuse, humiliation, and other unprofessional behaviors from Hunicke, and said they felt traumatized by their experiences while working at Funomena.

You can watch People Make Games’ full report below.

Hunicke responded to that report on Twitter, saying last week, “Leadership is a journey, and often a difficult one. It saddens me to know people are hurting from mistakes I’ve made. My sincere apologies. Right now I’m taking time to talk to people, focus on the feedback everyone is sharing, and figure out next steps.”

This Tuesday Funomena said via its official Twitter accountAlthough the studio sought investment in order to stay afloat it informed employees and contractors that it was considering closing down.

“Funomena was in the process of closing an investment round just before GDC, & we are still actively working to do so,” the studio said. “Last week we let everyone know that if we do not successfully finish the fundraise, we will be forced to close the studio.

“We love game development, we love making games and we love bringing people into the community,” the studio added. “It is our sincere hope that we can continue to do so, together.”

Funomena however followed the tweets. a thirdThis made them feel compelled to contact other studios with employment opportunities for their outgoing staff.

Polygon tried to contact Robin Hunicke on Tuesday for comments, but received no response. Hunicke and Martin Middleton were the founders of Funomena, which was previously known as thatgamecompany.