Telltale Games Shuts Down
September 24, 2018--The multimillion-dollar industry known as Telltale Games has closed its doors indefinitely as of September 21, 2018.
The studio released a statement addressing the sudden and saddening news, the document stating, “Today, Telltale Games made the difficult decision to begin a majority studio closure following a year marked by insurmountable challenges. A majority of the company’s employees were dismissed earlier this morning, with a small group of 25 employees staying on to fulfill the company’s obligations to its board and partners.”
The CEO of the company, Pete Hawley, further expresses the news and his shared grief. “It’s been an incredibly difficult year for Telltale as we worked to set the company on a new course," said, Hawley. “We released some of our best content this year and received a tremendous amount of positive feedback, but ultimately, that did not translate to sales.”
The sudden news shocked the gaming world, sparking outrage and discomforting news from numerous gaming news sites. According to The Verge, a popular gaming news outlet, 250 employees have been fired en masse from the company. The article goes on to explain how employees were let go without severance.
Former game developers have spoken out, privately and publicly, especially on Twitter. One disgruntled former employee by the name of Emily Grace Buck, explained the situation from the inside. She explains how for some, this was their only source of income for their families, and they have no idea how to pay next month’s bills. Buck goes as far as to upload a form of a “Job Needed” for all the of the game developers, signified by #TelltaleJobs. Numerous companies have reached out to hire Telltale employees in support of the Telltale developers.
Unfortunately, this update means that any future installments from Telltale have now been cancelled. The games include: Batman: The Telltale Series, The Walking Dead: The Final Season, The Wolf Among Us 2, The Tales of the Borderlands, and a future project of a game that was supposed to be based off the Netflix hit, Stranger Things. However, Telltale has recently released a statement saying that they will continue with the episodes of The Walking Dead at a later time with a different company or companies. Regardless of what is released in the future, this is a troubling time for the gaming world and holds an uncertain future for properties that were once owned by Telltale.
Image credit: Telltale
