Board 8 > Telltale Games is shutting down

(+) Yeah! (+)

telltale games became a kind of parody of themselves towards the end on top of being a punchline

it's sad because they really came a long way from their Sam & Max, Monkey Island and Strongbad stuff. Jurassic Park was ass and a half. I see why they used Walking Dead as a crutch; they had never had success before that point. They just stuck to that formula too hard for fear that they'd slip back into obscurity and people stopped caring about their same-y games. It's actually a pretty sad story.
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https://www.wingamestore.com/showcase/Telltale-Games-Sale/

get em while they're still somewhat relevant
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Wait, will this mean we can't even buy their games soon?

I'm kind of holding out for some giant humble bundle or something. I just don't know how they don't sell the company to someone else.
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someone will probably scoop them up, but i'm not sure how the licensing deals will work. they should transfer over, but their presence might actually inflate the value of Telltale and make it so that nobody will want to buy them
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Weakupedia posted...

https://www.wingamestore.com/showcase/Telltale-Games-Sale/

get em while they're still somewhat relevant

Ooh thank you
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Weakupedia posted...

Batman supposedly tanked real bad

Again why do a 2nd Batman if the first hurt you so bad??
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If I had to guess, they re-used assets and stuff from the first Batman game, making it cheaper to create, and they may have also had something in their contract with WB that they had to create at least two (potentially three) games, and the only way they can escape their obligations is by shutting down. And the only reason they're finishing the Netflix thing is because it's likely close to done and there's not much else to do with it.
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I guess, if they already paid for the license and made the assets, the second series wouldn't cost as much to make, so it wouldn't need to sell as well?
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Even if making a Batman Sequel is going to cost less than the first, you need to assume the game will sale about the same as the first (best case scenario) and determine whether or not it's profitable for you
And it wasn't profitable at all
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You guys are trying to figure out why a terrible management team made terrible decisions
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Eddv posted...

Weakupedia posted...

Batman supposedly tanked real bad

Again why do a 2nd Batman if the first hurt you so bad??

sunk cost fallacy?
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Well, they are still professionals with years of experience so there must be something we are missing, I can't imagine they did mistakes everyone can realize it's a mistake besides them
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Is there still a market for licensed episodic games like this?

I kinda want more of them, but with Telltale gone not sure who can try making these games if the market for them is dead.
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Plenty of incompetent people have years of experience.
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the issue was that there aren't enough attractive people to buy their games
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wtf
they had a jurassic park game?
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Did they even have a marketing team? A lot of these games I never saw marketing for. I think Michonne had marketing and Batman 2 had marketing. I have NO idea if anything else had marketing.
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I remember some adverts for the Guardians one
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Weakupedia posted...

wtf
they had a jurassic park game?

yeah it was right before Back to the Future and Walking Dead I think

it was hot ass, a giant dumpster fire of a licensed game

it's almost impossible to play if you've already experienced Walking Dead or anything after it
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voltch posted...

Is there still a market for licensed episodic games like this?

I kinda want more of them, but with Telltale gone not sure who can try making these games if the market for them is dead.

I hope Dontnod scoops up as many people as they can from this team and continues to put out games like this, but if LIS is any indication they ought to do some more original IPs.
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I actually kinda like the Jurassic Park game. I wouldn't necessarily call it good, but... I dunno, it entertained me. Just had way too many QTEs (and the plot's pretty stupid, but come on, it's Jurassic Park, all the plots are stupid. Hell, Jurassic World's trailers even seemed to be ripping off Aliens just like the game did).
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ZenOfThunder posted...

yeah it was right before Back to the Future and Walking Dead I think

Okay, I 100% did not know they had a Back to the Future game.

Wow.
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the back to the future game is actually pretty good, not great but good

michael j fox has a small role in it and if you get the Special Anniversary Edition they have the guy who plays Biff from the movies playing all the Biffs in the game
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https://twitter.com/emilybuckshot/status/1043324118915899392?s=19

wow this just gets worse and worse
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Fucking shambolic
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Underleveled posted...

voltch posted...

Is there still a market for licensed episodic games like this?

I kinda want more of them, but with Telltale gone not sure who can try making these games if the market for them is dead.

I hope Dontnod scoops up as many people as they can from this team and continues to put out games like this, but if LIS is any indication they ought to do some more original IPs.

Well given how large the telltale staff was, you probably don't want to take on that many when one of the genre's strongest brands just collapsed.

Better to spread the talent across many companies.
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Weakupedia posted...

https://twitter.com/emilybuckshot/status/1043324118915899392?s=19

wow this just gets worse and worse

I feel like if you are hiring people to start work then you lay them off a week later, something went very wrong somewhere
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https://twitter.com/max49940757/status/1043555873526882304?s=21

Found the worst take
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Jakyl25 posted...

https://twitter.com/max49940757/status/1043555873526882304?s=21

Found the worst take

wow
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https://twitter.com/emilybuckshot/status/1043563853785718785?s=21

Some real entitled gamers out there
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Jakyl25 posted...

Weakupedia posted...

https://twitter.com/emilybuckshot/status/1043324118915899392?s=19

wow this just gets worse and worse

I feel like if you are hiring people to start work then you lay them off a week later, something went very wrong somewhere

Well, yes
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https://imgur.com/tUHlxCm
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Jakyl25 posted...

https://twitter.com/emilybuckshot/status/1043563853785718785?s=21

Some real entitled gamers out there

Not saying I agree with the entitled gamer saying they should finish it for free but she sounds like an entitled employee. If your working conditions are so terrible get a different job.
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Lopen posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

https://twitter.com/emilybuckshot/status/1043563853785718785?s=21

Some real entitled gamers out there

Not saying I agree with the entitled gamer saying they should finish it for free but she sounds like an entitled employee. If your working conditions are so terrible get a different job.

I don't agree with that sentiment, especially in a field that is relatively niche.
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Lopen posted...

If your working conditions are so terrible get a different job.

Whoa, never thought of that
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I like the tale of Telltale. Maybe we'll get to read a whole book or movie about it someday.

It's kind of amazing how they collapsed so quickly ... but it seems to happen to a lot of other silly companies as well ... cough cough.
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Lopen posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

https://twitter.com/emilybuckshot/status/1043563853785718785?s=21

Some real entitled gamers out there

Not saying I agree with the entitled gamer saying they should finish it for free but she sounds like an entitled employee. If your working conditions are so terrible get a different job.

Its the games industry. There are no jobs without terrible working conditions. Game devs need to unionize.
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I wonder if people realize that most people in the game industry actually have a skillset that works in non-game industry jobs that pay better and treat you better
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Let's divide up the blame for this debacle like in car collisions.

Without even knowing them or what they did.
50% CEO Pete Hawley
30% CFO (Did they even have one)
15% VP of Human Resources Tracy Esposito
5% everyone else in the company

They don't even list a CFO in their about the company page ... emmmm hmmmm maybe that's why LOL

https://telltale.com/company/about/
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O I see their CFO Larry Castro ditched the company back on August 7 2018.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180807005256/en/Sysdig-Appoints-Larry-Castro-VP-Finance-Corporate
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I think Sysdig better find a new CFO lol. What kind of a CFO leaves a company only for it to fall apart a month after their exit.

Or he knew it was a sinking ship and he got out just in time.
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You know, I never bought any Telltale game from Steam when it released even when I was interested. I always knew if I wait like a year there would be a Humble Bundle where I could get their entire library for like 10 bucks.
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Jakyl25 posted...

Its the games industry. There are no jobs without terrible working conditions. Game devs need to unionize.

I'm just saying "I don't have health insurance provided by my job" comes off as a real first world problem to me.

Like if you're so miserable go work at Wal-Mart or something I hear they have good benefits.
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overthrow your oppressors and seize the means of production
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lopen what even kind of argument is that

like I know it's you but, wow
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I'm just saying there must have been a reason people are choosing to work there instead of Walmart, which puts them in likely a better working condition than Walmart in some ways or another, which is itself better working conditions than probably half of jobs out there.

I just think if you're in that position and whining about your work conditions while at the same time being part of a company that is losing money hand over fist it comes off as a bit entitled to me.

Like it'd be different if they were on the bottom rung of the employment totem pole, or they were working for a company that is bringing in huge profits and shouldn't ever need to fire them, but there are options out there

Colegreen_c12 posted...

I wonder if people realize that most people in the game industry actually have a skillset that works in non-game industry jobs that pay better and treat you better

Or what this guy said
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Lopen posted...

I'm just saying "I don't have health insurance provided by my job" comes off as a real first world problem to me.

We are in the first world though, so shitty working conditions is a legit problem
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Lopen posted...

Like it'd be different if they were on the bottom rung of the employment totem pole

So you would say you do have sympathy for the people who were hired and relocated family cross-country to start work a week ago who are now jobless
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Also telling someone who has a passion for games and WANTS to be in the industry despite various workplace problems "no shut up just get another job in a different career" is like....just brushing shit under the carpet I feel.

An actual problem solving method would be working towards change and improvements in the industry, and maybe considering unions and stuff.
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Aww man unlike most people I liked the Game of Thrones game and was really excited to see the second season. Sure it was linear but I liked the story anyway. What an unexpected disappointment. Iron from Ice!