Spanish studio Aheartfulofgames has accused parent company Outright Games of mismanagement over its decision to shutter the studio and make all 28 employees redundant.
In a press release sent to Game Developer in tandem with local union CSVI, the development team said Outright intends to shutter Aheartfulofgames around three years after it acquired the studio and pledged to support and expand its team.
“Outright acquired our studio in November 2022, integrating us into their internal structure and assuming responsibility for project selection and allocation, with the stated aim of supporting the growth of both the company and its productions,” explains the release. “From that point on, the studio’s management and the working conditions of its employees were brought under the direct control of the group.
“Following our acquisition, and after two years of continued development adapting to tight time and resource constraints, the Aheartfulofgames team delivered Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed. The project was completed on schedule and without production issues. After launching in October 2024, the game met the commercial expectations set by Outright.”
Following the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, however, the team claims they were essentially put out to pasture by their parent company. They allege that Outright, which is backed by UK-based private equity firm EMK Capital, neglected to provide work to the studio to justify an impending closure.
They say the studio was quickly ostracised after Outright appointed Robin Flodin as its new CEO in October 2024—a move they claim “marked a turning point in company management, leading to a shift in strategic priorities that, from our perspective, signalled a consistent lack of interest and minimal engagement from Outright regarding its responsibilities to our studio.”
“It became increasingly clear to teams across the group that the new leadership was prioritising low-cost, fast-turnaround projects, a strategy which tends to lead to lower quality outputs and a deterioration in working conditions,” they add.
Aheartfulofgames claims it repeatedly attempted to spin up projects over the past 12 months, but that Outright quashed those plans without explanation—even when pitches were “positively received” by prospective licensors. In addition, the team alleges that Outright prevented them from assisting the company’s other internal studios with their projects, with the firm instead choosing to outsource that work.
“We received requests from Outright UK to support a project being developed by their internal team. Despite reportedly having outsourcing contractors involved, the project seemed to be falling short of expectations. To our knowledge, this internal team remains active and fully staffed,” continues the statement.
“Over the course of these months, the frequency and scope of internal communications from Outright to Aheartfulofgames progressively diminished, culminating in May 2025, when our studio was explicitly excluded from a corporate group meeting. In June, we were informed verbally of the intention to shut down Aheartfulofgames.”
“They thought they were going to reap a lot more than they are reaping now”
Aheartfulofgames says Outright justified the closure on the grounds of “productive causes,” but reiterates its claim that it was actively prevented from taking on new projects.a It adds that Outright continues to produce titles at a steady pace, but has instead turned to working with outsourcing studios such as Casual Brothers, Ardmand Games, 3DClouds, and PHL Collective instead of providing its internal teams with work.
“Outright chose to outsource development of these projects to third parties while our team remained available, working and receiving salaries, a decision for which no economic rationale has been provided,” it adds.
“Our operational capacity would have allowed us to take on one of these projects in parallel with our ongoing work, thereby making better use of resources while continuing to develop strategic and creative proposals aimed at securing more ambitious opportunities for Outright. Although we received, and proactively submitted several initial licence pitches, as mentioned above, none were formalised by Outright.”
Speaking to Game Developer about the situation, three current Aheartfulofgames employees—who chose to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal—explain Outright’s acquisition of the studio initially seemed like a blessing. They say the company immediately pledged to expand the dev team—and quickly made good on that promise—while also outlining a plan to have Aheartfulofgames progressively work on bigger and more expansive licensed titles.
One source explains the deal appeared to provide the team with “safety and stability” in the wake of the pandemic, and admits there was plenty of optimism following the move.
“They came to us with promises, not only of bigger and better licenses, but also growth within the company. They made us believe they had a plan,” adds another source. “They gave our managers some sense of calm after three years of very difficult times—you know, after spending years trying to close deals during the pandemic.”
On paper, then, the deal was simple: Outright would keep the work flowing in Aheartfulofgames’ direction, and the Spanish studio would continue to produce licensed titles that would enable its parent company to bolster its reputation and footprint. The reality, it seems, failed to deliver on that promise.
Following the appointment of Flodin as CEO last year, one source explains the situation became increasingly “unstable” with pitches being turned down without reason. The sense, according to those we spoke with, is that Outright wanted to move in a new strategic direction towards cheaper projects and licenses. “That isn’t what they promised to us,” says one source. “So suddenly we became a liability.”
They say the decision to shutter Aheartfulofgames was verbally communicated during an internal meeting in June. At the time of writing, the studio is slated to be shuttered in mid-August.
Employees are now fighting for their livelihoods. All three sources explain they have been in negotiations with Outright in a bid to find an alternative route forward. They say they have tabled a number of proposals including a relocation plan and partial layoffs, all of which have been rejected by Outright. They claim their parent company isn’t interested in negotiating about anything other than the serverance packages that will ultimately result in 28 people losing their jobs.
“It feels like they have their mind set on closing us at any cost,” says one source. “They tell us we are just not competitive enough, but we were being super competitive when we finished Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—and suddenly, the moment we stopped working on that project, we became uncompetitive,” they continue. “We couldn’t be afforded another project. Not small projects or large projects. Suddenly no project fits our [studio] size.”
One source says it feels as if the decision to shutter Aheartfulofgames was made by looking at numbers on an Excel sheet in a bid to figure out how to make even more money for management and investors.
“In the end, to them, it’s just about money. About getting more profit. I think it’s bad for the industry in general and our creative world that this is happening all over the world,” they add.
“Emotionally, it has taken a huge toll. We have a really good team. We were working in really good conditions. Our studio managers were always trying to be fair […] and it’s really sad to lose something that was working well. Especially because we were trying to make games that weren’t just about making money, but also about doing creative things and giving people in the team the ability to take part in creative decisions. For all of us it has been hard to lose that.”
In the end, one source explains the closure appears to be a cynical decision made to appease investors who perhaps expected to prosper more off the back of a perceived game industry gold rush.
“They thought they were going to reap a lot more than they are reaping now,” they say. “And they have made it clear this isn’t an economic decision, but the economic context provides them an explanation for what they are doing—but they are not losing money, they’re gaining less.”
Game Developer has reached out to Outright Games for comment.
