Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland has parted ways with Adult Swim and game studio Squanch Games following charges of domestic violence. NBC News was the first to break the story on Roiland’s charges January 12th and nearly two weeks later, Adult Swim came out with its own announcement on Tuesday. According to Deadline Hollywood, fellow Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon will now be the sole showrunner of the series despite Roiland remaining credited for the series creation. Squanch Games, founded by Roiland, followed up with its own announcement hours later, stating that the game studio would continue to support High On Life following receiving the company founder’s resignation last week.
Not only was Roiland a co-creator for Rick and Morty, but he also voiced the two main characters themselves. With the team behind Rick and Morty hard at work with its upcoming seventh season, it is unknown what further actions will be taken following Roiland’s departure. Sources told Deadline Hollywood that the roles will be recast however, the potential candidates are still unknown.
High On Life is a first-person shooter where players take the role of a person fresh out of high school tasked with battling an invading alien cartel with a variety of wacky talking guns. High on Life was released last year and possibly a surprise to everyone became the biggest launch game on Game Pass in 2022. The game was also the biggest third-party launch in Game Pass history and the biggest single-player game launch on Game Pass ever.
Roiland was charged with one count of domestic battery with corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud or deceit in May 2020 due to an alleged incident earlier in 2020 with an unnamed woman that dated Roiland. Roiland pleaded not guilty, and after several pre-trial hearings, the former showrunner is expected to return to court on April 27.