Rooster Teeth, the studio behind RWBY and Red vs. Blue, is biting the dust. More than two decades after its initial founding, the studio announced that it would be closing its doors for good following a shutdown order from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. Amidst the layoffs and scramble to sell Rooster Teeth’s shows and podcast network, among other IP, the studio’s general manager, Jordan Levin, has issued a memo thanking Rooster Teeth’s employees for their hard work and stating that the shutdown is the result of “fundamental shifts in consumer behavior and monetization.”
Rooster Teeth GM Jordan Levin Publishes Memo Announcing Shutdown, Thanking Employees
Since its founding in 2003, Rooster Teeth has made quite a name for itself in animation, comedy, and gaming, among other fields. On the comedic front, some of its contributions include memes like the Immortal Snail Assassin, while some of its other shows include RWBY, a 2013 animated series where young men and women train to become Hunstmen and Huntresses and defend the world of Remnant from the Grimm. Even early on, the show received a lot of praise for its unique animation style and soundtrack, cementing it as one of the most – if not the most – lasting part of Rooster Teeth’s legacy.
Aside from RWBY, some of Rooster Teeth’s other shows include Red vs. Blue, a sci-fi comedy parody of first-person shooter games, and gen:LOCK, a sci-fi show where The Polity fights The Union with the help of soldiers who’ve had their minds uploaded into giant mechas called Holons. There’s also the Roost Podcast Network, which hosts a wide variety of podcasts ranging from true crime to comedy and everything in between.
Addressing the Studio Shutdown – How Did It Happen & What Happens Next?
In a statement addressing the studio shutdown (read it in full here), Levin stated that Rooster Teeth was shutting its doors because of “challenges facing digital media resulting from fundamental shifts in consumer behavior and monetization across platforms, advertising, and patronage.”
In the coming days and weeks, we will have many questions to answer and the opportunity to work together to implement the best way to wind things down for us and our community. We’re working through what comes next in real time, and we will be as open, direct, and accessible as possible. Thank you all in advance for your patience and support of one another.
Jordan Levin, Rooster Teeth GM
To some, the news of Rooster Teeth’s shutdown might not be a complete surprise. Aside from the fact that the gaming industry as a whole is in a state of turmoil right now, Rooster Teeth as a company has had the writing on the wall for some time. The company came under fire in 2022 after a former employee spoke out about her time at the studio, detailed how she was harassed, underpaid, and marginalized. This led to Rooster Teeth putting out an open apology for its “harmful and hurtful” behavior, but in hindsight this may have been the beginning of the end.
Regarding Rooster Teeth’s projects, the Roost is apparently the least affected right now; according to Levin, the Roost will “continue operating and fulfilling its obligations” while Warner Bros. Discovery looks into selling it and all of Rooster Teeth’s other IP. Nothing has been confirmed about any of the shows’ futures, but more detail will likely become available when or if the sales are finalized.
