One last surprise for the game is still on the way, however
It’s been a little over a year since the release of Wanderstop, the debut game of Ivy Road, itself a studio made up of Stanley Parable, Gone Home, and Minecraft talent. Since then, the developer has been trying to find funding for its next game, Engine Angel, but in January announced that this had been unsuccessful, with layoffs taking place as a result. Now, the studio has announced that it is, unfortunately, shutting down.
“Today, we must share some bittersweet news: Ivy Road is closing its doors as of March 31st, 2026,” reads a blog post from Ivy Road. “It’s hard to put into words how thankful we are to have been able to work together on Wanderstop – this is an incredible group of people! And while we had a new project, Engine Angel, that we were excited about, unfortunately the funding didn’t come to fruition and the studio had to shut down.”
Despite Ivy Road’s shuttering, there is apparently another “surprise brewing” for Wanderstop, “one we’ve been working on for the last year to help find a way for Wanderstop to reach new players.” Annapurna, the publisher of the game, will apparently share further word of this somewhere down the line. Wanderstop will remain available to play and purchase on all platforms as well.
The team do also note in the post that they hope Engine Angel does somehow get made one day, despite the funding troubles, and I’d be inclined to agree. It was a pretty radical departure from Wanderstop, taking on the form of a much more frenetic, energetic, maximalist action game that is any driving game by way of Devil May Cry. Yes, the car did the fighting, and I really do hope it sees the light of day eventually.
Good luck to those affected by the studio’s closure – there’s a thread here worth perusing that lists those now out of work.
