Justin Roiland Parts Ways With ‘High On Life’ Studio Squanch Games

Justin Roiland was at the top of his game by the end of 2022. High on life, you might say.

Rick And Morty, the animated adult TV show he co-created with Dan Harmon, was more popular than ever. His new video game, High On Life, rocketed to Xbox Game Pass’s number one title of the year.

It all came crashing down on January 12th, 2023 when news broke that Roiland had been charged with a felony domestic violence complaint in May of 2020. Roiland pleaded not guilty and was released on a $50,000 bond in August, 2020, but the case remained under wraps until this year, with a trial set to begin on April 27th in Orange County, CA.

Earlier, I wrote about Adult Swim cutting ties with Roiland, choosing to recast both Rick and Morty, with Harmon taking over as showrunner. I argued that they should just cancel the show and start something new that’s not so deeply tied to Roiland. Like it or not, Rick And Morty is Roiland’s baby, and you can’t really separate the two just by recasting the main characters.

Now, Squanch Games—which Roiland co-founded in 2016, has announced Roiland’s resignation from the studio.

“On January 16, 2023, Squanch Games received Justin Roiland’s resignation,” the tweet reads. “The passionate team at Squanch will keep developing games we know our fans will love while continuing to support and improve High On Life.”

I enjoyed what I played of High On Life despite never being a big fan of Roiland’s sense of humor. I was never able to get into Rick And Morty, but I did find High On Life pretty clever and entertaining, and I’m glad to see that Squanch Games will continue to support it and create new content without Roiland.

Read more about the controversy surrounding Roiland—which goes well beyond the domestic violence charges—right here.