Rooster Teeth Shut Down By WBD

[Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast]

deadline.com/2024/03/rooster-teeth-shut-down-warner-bros-discovery-roost-podcast-continue-1235847264/

A pioneer in digital content creation is going away. Rooster Teeth, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming & Interactive Entertainment, announced this morning that it is ceasing operations after 21 years. The process starts today and is expected to take several months.

The news was announced at an all-hands company meeting and shared in an internal memo by Rooster Teeth general manager Jordan Levin.

“It’s with a heavy heart I announce that Rooster Teeth is shutting down due to challenges facing digital media resulting from fundamental shifts in consumer behavior and monetization across platforms, advertising, and patronage,” Levin said in the email

[Zombie Mod is not a ghoul.]

that explains why death battle's new season hasn't started yet.

[Sponsored by Groose Wipes]

I don't think Torchwick is coming back guys.

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

I'm sure WBD will just move RWBY to another department, they LOVE animated projects.

Oh...

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

A lot of people contracted with Rooster Teeth literally just found out that it was dead via Social Media.

[Burst]

"challenges facing digital media resulting from fundamental shifts in consumer behavior and monetization across platforms, advertising, and patronage" might be the most bullshit corporate excuse since TNA's reasoning for firing Scott D'Amore.

[Malcolm]

The hits just keep on coming with this WBD, doesn't it?

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

Mar 6, 2024 17:58:07 GMT -5 El Cokehead del Knife Fight said:

A lot of people contracted with Rooster Teeth literally just found out that it was dead via Social Media.

Zaslav really is a joy to work for, it seems.

[Burst]

As an aside, I swear every time there's a big media conglomerate shake-up it's always animation that ends up taking the steel-toed boot to the nads. Pragmatically it's almost certainly just animation being more expensive proportionally to produce than live-action, but in practice it always ends up feeling like the finance bros or execs in charge are perpetuating the "lol only kids and NERDS watch cartoons and they don't buy our advertisers' products" mindset.

[chrom]

Mar 6, 2024 18:01:54 GMT -5 TWERKIN' MAGGLE said:

Mar 6, 2024 17:58:07 GMT -5 El Cokehead del Knife Fight said:

A lot of people contracted with Rooster Teeth literally just found out that it was dead via Social Media.

Zaslav really is a joy to work for, it seems.

As enjoyable as a root canal

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Honestly given Zaslav’s seemingly all out war against animation within WBD, Rooster Teeth was simply a matter of when not if he would set his sights on them. I naturally had hoped Death Battle and RWBY would have reached their conclusions beforehand(and yes, DB does or rather for now did have a planned ending of their final DB being Wiz vs Boomstick, something they’ve been sewing the seeds more for in recent seasons with showing various abilities the two have offhandedly in the tale of the tape part of each episode once they actually started animating the two of them).

[Lizuka #BLM]

I've never had any interest in anything of Rooster Teeth's but this still has me like, "Holy shit can we as a collective just exile Zaslav to a remote island like Napoleon already?"

[Sponsored by Groose Wipes]

[schma]

I had heard they tried to sell it a few years ago but were unsuccessful?

[chrom]

They know how to cut the budget, but they don't know how to make money

[Mozenrath]

Mar 7, 2024 1:04:07 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

I've never had any interest in anything of Rooster Teeth's but this still has me like, "Holy shit can we as a collective just exile Zaslav to a remote island like Napoleon already?"

That's eventually what will happen to him, it always does, but whoever comes after him will probably also be a hatchet man.

[mystermystery]

Mar 7, 2024 11:34:47 GMT -5 chrom said:

They know how to cut the budget, but they don't know how to make money

The bonus is the same no matter which they do.

[Natural Born Farmer]

Well, they didn't blame AI, at least.

[A Platypus Rave]

Mar 6, 2024 18:01:54 GMT -5 TWERKIN' MAGGLE said:

Mar 6, 2024 17:58:07 GMT -5 El Cokehead del Knife Fight said:

A lot of people contracted with Rooster Teeth literally just found out that it was dead via Social Media.

Zaslav really is a joy to work for, it seems.

and he does all this, he says, for the shareholders but... they're shares have dropped to a third of their value in 2 years.

[y4j1981]

Not really on subject, but you can add Adult Swim games on Console stores & Steam too. WBD is killing that division as well it seems

www.theverge.com/2024/3/8/24094536/adult-swim-games-delisted-warner-bros-discovery

Warner Bros. is removing Adult Swim Games from console stores and Steam / Various developers are reporting that Warner Bros. has decided to delist games published under Adult Swim Games.

Even Warner Bros. Discovery games are subject to the capriciousness of the executive suite. Several developers of games published under Adult Swim Games, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, have said that the company has reached out to inform them that their games will soon be removed from digital storefronts on PC and console.

“It saddens me to announce that we received notice from Warner Bros. Discovery (the owners of Adult Swim Games) that Fist Puncher will be retired and removed from Steam in the next 60 days,” wrote Matt Kain, one of Fist Puncher’s developers, on Steam.


Other developers with Adult Swim Games said they received the same message. “Within the next 60 days, Soundodger+ will be removed from Steam,” wrote Studio Bean on X.

Some of the affected developers wrote that they will republish their games on Steam, but the titles will lose their community pages, Steam achievements, forum discussions, screenshots, and other content in the process. That could all be preserved if Warner Bros. transferred publishing permissions to the developers, but developers say the company is refusing to do so, citing a lack of resources.

According to the developers, however, the Steam transfer process takes only minutes. “I sent them the Steam Transfer link, explained that it takes 3 clicks, and they still refused, claiming it would only be fair to transfer no one’s games since they can’t do them all,” Studio Bean wrote.

The move suggests Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to shut down Adult Swim Games and has taken the first step of informing impacted developers. Since completing its merger in 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery has removed TV shows from its streaming library and shelved nearly finished films, including Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme, as a means of cost cutting. The Verge has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for comment.

On Steam, there’s a list of 25 Adult Swim Games titles that will be removed.

Owen Deery, developer of Small Radios Big Televisions, wrote that he’s making his game freely available on his website. Studio Bean wrote that Warner Bros. would allow the team to republish the game on Steam so long as it removed all references to Adult Swim Games, including team members listed in the credits.

“I’m all for games preservation, and this ain’t it chief,” wrote Deery.