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Justin Roiland Resigns From High On Life Developer Squanch Games

Justin Roiland Resigns From High On Life Developer Squanch Games - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 25 January 2023 / 2,752 Views

Rick & Morty creator Justin Roiland announced he has resigned from High On Life developer Squanch Games, following the revelation he has been charged with felony domestic violence in Orange County, California.

"On January 16, 2023, Squanch Games received Justin Roiland's resignation," said Squanch Games via Twitter. "The passionate team at Squanch will keep developing games we know our fans will love while continuing to support and improve High On Life."

Roiland was a co-founder and the CEO of Squanch Games. The studio released High On Life on December 13, 2022 for the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.

High On Life was the biggest Xbox Game Pass launch of 2022 and the biggest third-party Game Pass launch ever. It also had the biggest release of a single player-only game in Game Pass history.

Roiland was charged with one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit. The complaint was filed by an anonymous Jane Doe who was dating Roiland on January 19, 2020.

He was arrested and was released on a $50,000 bond in August 2020 and arraigned in October 2020. More than a dozen court hearings and pre-trial hearings have since taken place. A date for the trial has yet to be set.

An order was filed in October 2020 to protect the person Roiland was dating. Roiland is not to harass, threaten or surveil the person, and cannot go within 100 feet of the person. The order lasts until October 2023.

Roiland's attorney during Thursday's hearing confirmed to NBC News there is a plea offer available, however, did not discuss any details. There is an agreement to convene again for another hearing on April 27.


A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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29 Comments
TheLegendaryBigBoss (on 25 January 2023)

Guilty until proven innocent. Honestly, can't people just wait for the outcome of the trial.

  • +7

I think they do this as a precaution. Kinda like how John Lasseter was forced to leave Disney because of allegations against him.

  • 0
JWeinCom TheLegendaryBigBoss (on 29 January 2023)

No, because trials do not determine innocence. Nobody has ever been found innocence. For someone to be found not guilty, there has to be virtually no doubt, as it should be if we're going to take away someone's freedom.

On the other hand, you can have pretty overwhelming evidence that someone is toxic to your company and a potential threat to some of your employees, as is in this case, even if they have not violated any criminal law beyond a reasonable doubt.

  • 0
V-r0cK (on 25 January 2023)

Can they at least wait until he's found guilty before companies start cutting ties. Did they not learn anything from the Johnny Depp case? lol

  • +7
anonymunchy V-r0cK (on 25 January 2023)

Yeah, whatever the fuck happened to innocent until proven guilty. Some random woman accuses someone and their life is just instantly over? No matter if it's true or not.

  • +7
DonFerrari anonymunchy (on 25 January 2023)

I do agree with the intent, but that is under the law to be jailed it doesn't mean people won't make their own internal judging.

  • +2
the-pi-guy anonymunchy (on 27 January 2023)

It's not one random woman.
He was apparently not allowed in the writer's room. Several people came forward with texts where he was calling 16 year olds "jailbait".

  • +2
Bandorr V-r0cK (on 25 January 2023)

He resigned. He wasn't fired.

  • +4
V-r0cK Bandorr (on 25 January 2023)

https://www.ign.com/articles/adult-swim-cuts-ties-with-rick-and-mortys-justin-roiland-following-domestic-abuse-charges

He resigned from High on Life. But Adult Swim let him go/fired from Rick and Morty. I'm sure with the loss of that he just didn't feel like going on with High on Life and felt it was best to resign; chain reaction.

  • +4
the-pi-guy V-r0cK (on 27 January 2023)

A lot of assumptions here.
He resigned from Squanch Games over a week before Adult Swim let him go.

  • +1
anonymunchy Bandorr (on 25 January 2023)

You realise it's a forced resignation right? The company will suffer if he stays on because of people's mob mentality and he probably doesn't want a lot of his life's work to go down the drain.

  • +5
V-r0cK anonymunchy (on 25 January 2023)

Exactly. Regardless if he's innocent, if this case is still on-going it will tarnish Squanch Games' name so he probably felt it was best for everyone.

  • +2
CaptainExplosion V-r0cK (on 25 January 2023)

Too bad the same couldn't save Ren & Stimpy.

  • 0
Otter V-r0cK (on 27 January 2023)

They probably did, it's terrible for any brand to be associated with him and he was found guilty in the UK courts. These kind of stains don't wash away easily.

  • 0
JWeinCom V-r0cK (on 29 January 2023)

That's why it was so gross watching that trial. Because even though justice was properly served in that case, you knew some people were going to learn the wrong lesson, and pull it out whenever any man is accused of anything, regardless of whether the cases are even the tiniest bit similar. This is not a case of one person saying something in a situation where nobody can verify. It's a case where there is a clear pattern of predatory behavior, and enough evidence to warrant a trial for serious felonies.

The lesson from the Depp Heard thing is that each case has to be judged on its own merits. Based on the facts as they appear so far, it would be irresponsible as a company and as an employer to keep someone like this in any position of authority, or any public facing roles.

  • +3
TheWalrusCaesar (on 26 January 2023)

Half the comments reactions here are insane. There is an extreme amount of evidence against him, and outside of the case there are screenshots of him sending gross shit to fans. You dont need to defend everyone who’s accused of terrible things lol. If hes truly innocent the truth will come out

  • +3
Otter (on 27 January 2023)

People who are like "what happened to innocent until proven guilty" don't have to worry about keeping 100s of employees in jobs.

Having your brand/business associated and almost led by someone accused of domestic violence for months upon months is a sure fired way to ensure your businesses suffers immensely. Its not sustainable for the other employees and will probably have bad ramifications for the work environment too.

  • +2
anonymunchy Otter (on 27 January 2023)

The statement is directed to the mob mentality, not towards the businesses. An accusation can end someone's life and destroy their business because we as people can not take a step back and wait for the truth to come out.

  • -2
SuaveSocialist (on 26 January 2023)

There are a lot of grooming allegations being made as well. The screenshots are pretty damning. I understand completely why people suddenly don't want to work with this guy.

  • +2
DonFerrari (on 25 January 2023)

Well that way they preserve company value and game image until the problem is solved.

  • +2
CaptainExplosion (on 25 January 2023)

Do you think this will hurt Rick and Morty?

  • 0
V-r0cK CaptainExplosion (on 25 January 2023)

I read that they already fired him and are looking for new VA to fill in the role. So yes it i will.

  • +2
CaptainExplosion V-r0cK (on 25 January 2023)

Oh well, at least he's not like Ren & Stimpy creator John "Groomed Underage Fans" K.

  • +1
V-r0cK CaptainExplosion (on 25 January 2023)

Yea that was messed up

  • +1
CaptainExplosion V-r0cK (on 25 January 2023)

I hope John K dies from an STD.

  • -1
the-pi-guy CaptainExplosion (on 27 January 2023)

Ehhhh...
There's been a couple of teenagers who came forward with supposed messages from Roiland.

  • +1
CaptainExplosion the-pi-guy (on 27 January 2023)

Great, another animated series creator who deserves death by an STD?

  • 0

Yes, doesn't he voice like half of the cast?

  • +3
V-r0cK TheLegendaryBigBoss (on 25 January 2023)

He voices both Rick and Morty, so just the big players lol

  • +2