Texas-based media company Rooster Teeth to shut down after 21 years

Rooster Teeth, the company behind the productions RWBY, RWBY Chibi, Red vs. Blue, and others, will cease operations after twenty-one years. Warner Bros. Discovery acquired Rooster Teeth in 2022 and has decided to shut it down after failing to meet profits.

As a result of its shutdown, Warner Bros Discovery plans to sell RT's animated properties and the podcast and lay off its 150 full-time staff members, adding content creators and contractors. Immediately after the shutdown, Rooster Teeth's YouTube channel was deactivated, but its animated content was removed in October 2023 and moved to its website. To access the content, users had to pay a fee.

Rooster Teeth's general director, Jordan Levin, supplied a statement to Variety detailing his company's closure.

"It's with a heavy heart [that] 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 told the outlet. Our legacy is not just a collection of content but a history of pixels burned into our screens, minds, and hearts."

Rooster Teeth was first launched in 2003 in Austin, Texas, and immediately exploded online when the internet was still young. In 2011, the RTX convention took place, where fans would attend to immerse themselves in the RT fandom and connect with their favorite creators. The event has dwindled in popularity in recent years, and the 2024 edition has been canceled in December 2023.

Fans should hold on to the hope that if RWBY is brought elsewhere, the anime-styled series could get a proper ending and closure. At this time, the series is hanging in the balance, but the Roost podcast will still be in operation.

But Rooster Teeth has faced challenges inside its company, such as employee harassment, homophobia, lack of pay, and even pedophilia, which only hindered it.