Friday, September 21st 2018
Telltale Games Enters Majority Closure, Walking Dead Finale Reportedly Cancelled
In what will likely hit more than a few PC gamers hard, Telltale Games- the studio behind The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Tales From The Borderlands and more- will be closing. The studio currently maintains only a skeleton crew of 25 out of what once was an estimated 250 employees at peak. Sadly, the employees that were let go received no severance pay, while those remaining have been tasked with completing a single final project. Reports as to the final project are conflicting, but it appears to be the Minecraft Story Mode project for Netflix. Either way, it is the studio's last gasp as it attempts to fulfill various obligations. Meanwhile, projects like The Walking Dead final season, The Wolf Among Us 2 and others have been outright canceled.
With the whirlwind of activity surrounding the closure is still ongoing, the hashtag #TelltaleJobs on Twitter has currently begun to take off with offers from various studios letting former Telltale staff know they should apply. These studios include, but are not limited to ZeniMax Online Studios, Sony Santa Monica, PUBG corp, Gearbox and many more. While Telltale Games have been experiencing some troubles over the last year or so, its closing was still unexpected. More pressing is, what happens next for those that purchased the entire final season of The Walking Dead- with only one episode out, there is no word yet on what will happen to those that purchased it.
Update:One of the major reasons behind the closure can likely be traced to falling sales, likely leaving the company in a tough position.
Sources:
US Gamer, Twitter, Reddit
With the whirlwind of activity surrounding the closure is still ongoing, the hashtag #TelltaleJobs on Twitter has currently begun to take off with offers from various studios letting former Telltale staff know they should apply. These studios include, but are not limited to ZeniMax Online Studios, Sony Santa Monica, PUBG corp, Gearbox and many more. While Telltale Games have been experiencing some troubles over the last year or so, its closing was still unexpected. More pressing is, what happens next for those that purchased the entire final season of The Walking Dead- with only one episode out, there is no word yet on what will happen to those that purchased it.
Update:One of the major reasons behind the closure can likely be traced to falling sales, likely leaving the company in a tough position.
64 Comments on Telltale Games Enters Majority Closure, Walking Dead Finale Reportedly Cancelled
The voice actress of Clem talks about Telltale and TWD.
Just a good reminder that a smaller publisher may be just as bad, if not worse, then big ones like EA. When you have such high turnover and infighting, you waste tons of resources on training new employees, remediation situations, game delays, ece. It is an old tale, one that goes back centuries, and TTG is just the latest company to rip itself apart with poor management.I've long thought that interactions with tech and media sites E.G. techspot, techpowerup, YouTube reviewers ece handing up free review copies, along with using twitter, facebook, reddit, ece to promote their games works a LOT better then traditional advertisements and is way cheaper.
That being said, people like you are not TTG's target audience, or anyone's for that matter. People who view no form of advertising are not any kind of target audience by definition, because you are not even in the audience. The vast majority of gamers, including the more casual types that would actually buy glorified TV shows with quick time events, watch TV, read gaming mags, and are invested in social media.
www.theverge.com/2018/9/21/17888162/telltale-games-layoffs-the-walking-dead
Spoiler: its from a better game too ;)
The Walking Dead: The Final Season may not be dead, Telltale is working to try and finish the last two episodes "in some form".I honestly have no idea what that is.
Telltale hit with class-action lawsuit for breaking labor laws
www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2018/9/25/17901106/telltale-layoffs-lawsuit-warn-act
It really sounds like there isn’t a dime left not even reserves. They were on life support a lot longer than we thought, I bet. I hope that’s not the case, and wish the employees luck. Hopefully they aren’t trying to get blood from a stone.