{"id":14047,"date":"2026-09-12T00:43:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=14047"},"modified":"2026-09-12T03:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T23:34:33","slug":"polyarc-dev-behind-the-critically-acclaimed-moss-series-is-shutting-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/09\/12\/polyarc-dev-behind-the-critically-acclaimed-moss-series-is-shutting-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Polyarc, Dev Behind the Critically Acclaimed Moss Series, Is Shutting Down"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Polyarc Games, the developer behind the critically acclaimed Moss games, has announced it is shutting down.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Seattle studio announced it is ceasing operations starting today, September 11, 2026, with a post on LinkedIn. It&#8217;s a shock announcement that will see the company close its doors after 12 years.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;After nearly 12 years riding the joyous rollercoaster of emotions that is making video games, our time together has come to an end,&#8221; Polyarc said. &#8220;As we wind down active development, we are saying our farewells to each other.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Working together over all of these years has been an honor. Bringing surprise and delight to those who played our games has been a privilege. Thank you to everyone at Polyarc, our work is now finished. Polyarc has been home to exceptional developers across all disciplines.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The post then signed off, encouraging game developers looking for talent to hire members of its team. The full list shared with the message totals 29 names, including artists, designers, animation experts, engineers, and more.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey,&#8221; Polyarc signed off.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Moss: The Forgotten Relic Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/polyarc-dev-behind-the-critically-acclaimed-moss-series-is-shutting-down.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3027214138 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Polyarc developed and published its first title, Moss VR, in 2018. An action-adventure puzzle game starring a small mouse named Quill, the game was well-received by critics and fans alike. IGN gave it an 8.5\/10 upon its release, saying, &#8220;Quill and her fantastical world of Moss are instantly likable. This storybook action-adventure makes stellar use of VR.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">We also found 2022&#8217;s Moss: Book 2 to be found similarly enjoyable. In our 8\/10 review, we said it &#8220;builds upon its predecessor nicely with a captivating world and entertaining platforming, let down primarily by the PSVR\u2019s aging tech.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In 2023, Polyarc released Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss, a more tactical take on the series. A non-VR version of both Moss and its sequel, Moss: The Forgotten Relic, was released just two months ago in July 2026. It also received an 8\/10 from IGN.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Moss: The Forgotten Relic is an incredibly charming fairy tale, and aside from a couple of minor issues, this is a very smooth remake that doesn\u2019t feel compromised by breaking free of its VR-exclusive origins,&#8221; we said at the time.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Polyarc is, unfortunately, far from the first studio closure in 2026. PlayStation&#8217;s Bluepoint Games and Dark Outlaw Games were both shut down earlier this year. Ubisoft announced it was closing some of its studios in June. The list goes on, with Netflix also shuttering Oxenfree developer Night School just last month. GreedFall developer Spiders shut down in April. Microsoft announced plans to cut 3,200 staff in July.<\/p>\n<section class=\"author-sign-off\" data-cy=\"author-sign-off\"><span class=\"stack jsx-59817748 jsx-1927875859\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"rounded jsx-444076027 jsx-4218469134 profile-thumb jsx-2141281959 aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-1-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michael Cripe Avatar\" class=\"progressive-image profile-thumb-img jsx-249361588 jsx-2338608387 expand\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/polyarc-dev-behind-the-critically-acclaimed-moss-series-is-shutting-down.jpg\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-3630940851\"><span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-702910195 author-sign-off-header\">Michael Cripe<\/p>\n<p>Freelance Writer<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-1220387432\"><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 sign-off-text\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He&#8217;s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/polyarc-dev-behind-the-critically-acclaimed-moss-series-is-shutting-down.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/polyarc-dev-behind-the-critically-acclaimed-moss-series-is-shutting-down.webp\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/polyarc-dev-behind-the-critically-acclaimed-moss-series-is-shutting-down.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/polyarc-dev-behind-the-critically-acclaimed-moss-series-is-shutting-down.webp\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-14047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14049,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047\/revisions\/14049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}