Telltale Games is closing down

[DisturbedSwan]

 

Whilst I haven’t played any of their games since Game of Thrones and only really loved TWD S1 it’s a huge shame they’re closing down. It’s especially odd as they only announced months ago that they were developing a Stranger Things game.

[Hendo]

That is a shame. Not wholly surprising though, and some of the best people got out and made Firewatch.

[Sly Reflex]

Took too much on at once, the quality suffered. GoT was fucking terrible, I don't know how they got away with that without people causing an uproar. Everything else I've played from them has been acceptable or spectacular though, I'm really sad we won't see another TWAU

[mmmark]

What @Sly Reflex said. They started off strong but spread themselves thin with whatever was popular at the time which by the time of game release was a by the books release. It would have been better for them to have 2 3D story games on the go and some indie like 8/16 bit originals. 

[retroed]

Scaling down massively from 250 staff to 25. The remaining will be finishing off TWD and then Telltale will probably be shuttered.

 

Massive shame. Apparently the final The Walking Dead season is really good. I didn't buy it.

[DANGERMAN]

I was talking to Spatular just. Were they paying for the licences or were they being hired? Even if they weren't getting high sales, you wouldn't expect them to be losing money if they were getting hired. The likes of Minecraft should have made them money, and they weren't expensive games to make (unless they had to pay for the licence)

[Rikzilla]

Update from US Gamer:

 

Update 4 [4:12pm]: As information continues to come out of today's announcement that Telltale Games is closing, and particularly in light of Telltale's statement, there are new revelations to the situation at Telltale. 

 

We previously reported that a skeleton crew will remain behind to complete work on The Walking Dead Final Season. That information was inaccurate. Sources who wish to remain anonymous explained that there is a skeleton crew at Telltale, but they will be working on the Minecraft Story Mode project for Netflix. In fact, The Walking Dead team was also laid off today and The Walking Dead Final Season will not be completed. 

 

This matches with the statement issued by Telltale games where the company promised to "fulfill the company's obligations to its board and partners." Our sources say The Walking Dead Final Season is set to end after the second episode launches next week. 

[Sly Reflex]

Well fuck.

[DisturbedSwan]

?

 

 

[Sly Reflex]

They aren't the only ones. Pitchford has extended his welcome too.

 

 

Someone suggested they try to get the Wolf Among Us IP as well as some of the others too. Would maybe make sense because of the Tales from the Borderlands connection as well as maybe bringing in writers for their other projects. Having good writers, story boarders or people that know how a story slots together in beneficial.

[mmmark]

Looking forward to hearing about the guy/girl who showed up at Ubisoft’s dinner invitation and got a job.

 

Spoiler

But they never worked for Telltale

 

[retroed]

 

Holy shit.

[regemond]

Fucking hell, that's a sobering perspective on it. And there's people out there worried about the £20 they spent on a season pass for TWD S4...

[DANGERMAN]

I know you're not really begrudging them, but those people have been dicked over too. Telltale should be refunded season passes

 

They should also have given their staff notice and severance, it's a disgrace they haven't, and none of the executives should be allowed to run a company again if this is how they handle shutting it down

[mmmark]

Not to sound like I’m playing devils avocado but it hasn’t closed because it was well managed and every product was gold. That list on the tweet happens to people from so many backgrounds and of different professions. I’m sure they’ll pick themselves up by the bootstraps and get similar work for someone else or like most of us a job to get by. 

[regemond]

@DANGERMAN I'm really not saying they haven't or they shouldn't. All I'm saying is that £20 means nothing compared to the people who, like the example the, started a week earlier then got told they're out of a job.

 

That's shoddy fucking management. There's no way they couldn't have known 'fuck, we're gonna be out of money this week' unless all of the higher ups were completely incompetent. 

 

Also, I'm one of the likes on your comment because I totally agree re severance and notice.

 

@wiivo 2.0 I'm sure they will pick themselves back up. Especially with Ubi and Gearbox throwing offers out. It's just horrific that they've done this without notice. The money doesn't suddenly disappear. They know when the river is running dry. It's not like they're beholden to a publisher and they're being killed off (a la Capcom/Dead Rising team). It's awful the way they've handled it.

[DANGERMAN]

@regemond I know, like I said I know you're not saying they have no right to complain, they do. 

 

Some of the rumours make it sound like a lot of people weren't happy working there. That might have been a symptom that they were having problems. It's easy to be a good company when you're flush, conditions tend to get worse as the finances do

[regemond]

Jesus, there's more to those screenshots. The staff knew, apparently.

 

 

4th screenshot in spoilers due to PictureGate.

 

Spoiler

 

Looks like it's not shitty management and my previous statements jumped the gun a bit. Seems as though they knew and wanted to stick it out.

[mmmark]

TOXIC MANAGEMENT COST AN AWARD-WINNING GAME STUDIO ITS BEST DEVELOPERS

 

Thats from March.

 

In November 2017, the company announced that it was laying off 90 developers, roughly a quarter of its staff. For some at Telltale, the news was a shock. For others, the inevitable outcome of what sources familiar with the company describe as years of a culture that promoted constant overwork, toxic management, and creative stagnation.

[regemond]