After 21 years, Warner Bros. closes Rooster Teeth, the production company behind Red versus blue And RWBY, among other titles. The process is expected to take several months, according to an advisory from Rooster Teeth CEO Jordan Levin. published Wednesday on the Rooster Teeth website. The Roost Podcast Network, which features podcasts like Kinda Funny and RT Podcast, will remain with Warner Bros. as the company seeks to sell the network.
Warner Bros. will still release a completed, unspecified film produced by Rooster Teeth and other projects in progress, and is “exploring options” for Rooster Teeth content, according to deadline. Variety reported On Wednesday, about 150 full-time workers will be laid off, and “dozens of entrepreneurs and content creators” will also be suddenly affected.
Levin attributed the closure to “challenges facing digital media, resulting from fundamental changes in consumer behavior and monetization across platforms, advertising and patronage.”
The company was founded in 2003 and with it was born Red versus bluea machinima style show that used Halo to tell the story of two groups of isolated and opposing soldiers who fell into a barren canyon. The show quickly became a success; it took a game that people liked – the original Halo – and created a parody of war stories and military video games. More importantly, it was just funny – at least it was for me when I was a teenager. Twenty-one years later, I still sometimes mutter a sentence from the first episode: Have you ever wondered why we are here? Red versus blueThe final season of is scheduled for this year.
“While unintentional, it is entirely fitting that our final season of 'Red vs. Blue' coincides with us going through this shutdown together,” Levin wrote. “Our legacy is not just a collection of content but a story of pixels etched into our screens, our minds and our hearts. Rooster Teeth has left an indelible mark on the media industry, and we should be very proud of the countless ways we've launched a business connecting creators and content with a dedicated community.
Rooster Teeth eventually branched out from there, with shows like Achievement unlocked And Let's play. It's the next big hit, an anime-style web series titled RWBYdebuted in 2013. The following year, Fullscreen acquired Rooster Teeth before the production company released its first film, The Laser team. This acquisition kicked off a series of mergers and restructurings that led to the consolidation of Rooster Teeth under AT&T. AT&T attempted to sell Rooster Teeth in 2021, saying its revenue fell by $20 million in 2019. Rooster Teeth doesn't be sold, so it was included in the AT&T deal that merged WarnerMedia with Discovery to create Warner Bros. Discovery.
Rooster Teeth, while still popular, has struggled to retain the wacky charm and easy humor of its early days. The company has also faced several serious controversies, including RWBY Actor Vic Mignogna's removal from the series after sexual harassment allegations as well as several cases of alleged workplace misconduct.
On social media, Rooster Teeth fans sought to support the company's laid-off staff and called the impending closure “the end of an era.” Although Rooster Teeth has changed a lot over the years – and not always for the better – many people remember the works he created fondly.