No, seriously, this is it. It’s dead. I know, it doesn’t sound real, does it?
Over the weekend very sad news was broke out that many (in fact most) staff members at Telltale have been laid off. Though this information has been coming in for some time now, over the last two days many of the employees came forward at the same, which probably has something to do with their NDA running out.
While initially shocking, looking back in hindsight, Telltale’s fall doesn’t really come off as much of a surprise. The studio was struck with a lawsuit by its former CEO earlier this year and while the results of that lawsuit weren’t made public, it’s clear that it didn’t go well (because of course it wouldn’t, a studio being able to remove its toxic head and move on? What is this, democracy or something?).
Moreover, the strategy of releasing essentially the same game again and again in a surprisingly short period of time and banking on licensing big pop-cultural titles (Batman, Game of Thrones, the Walking Dead…) wasn’t a great idea from the start. To be fair, that again might have something to do with that former CEO, but this is starting to sound too much like throwing shade, so I’m just gonna say: allegedly. There. Safe.
According to Telltale’s statement, 25 employees remain out of 400 now to “fulfill the company’s obligations to its board and partners”. And that’s it. I guess it’s ironic that the studio who gave us The Walking Dead dies much like any of its character would—with no warning, unassumingly and due to entirely preventable causes.
Telltale promised that further clarification about the fate of their games will be ushered later in the week, but it doesn’t look good for the final season of The Walking Dead, which literally just started.