Poll of the Day > Telltale Games is shutting down

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/327085/Telltale_Games_initiates_majority_studio_closure.php

Theyre just keeping 25 people on to fulfill ongoing obligations

Wolf Among Us 2 and Stranger Things are outright cancelled
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That sucks. I loved the first two TWD games.
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F
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Damn. I liked their stuff.
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If I am being completely honest, they were kind of a crap company. People forget that "episodic gaming" started with them some some 12 years ago and they have been putting out nothing but licenced crap and scraps from canceled Lucas Arts projects their entire existence. Even as a fan of adventure games I have to say they produced some of the worst. The only reason they lasted as long as they did was because they created a Walking Dead game when that series was at peek popularity.
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They was ok for a film studio but unfortunately didn't make anything memorable.
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I find the news surprising, considering that they were seemingly a pretty popular dev.

The rest were let go this week, reportedly without any severance,

Damn.
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God damn, really wanted Wolf Among Us 2.
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Mead posted...

Wolf Among Us 2 and Stranger Things are outright cancelled

Well hey, maybe those properties can be made into games by a good developer now.
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I really liked them. This is such a shame...
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This seems so sudden, were they in any known financial issues?

Dikitain posted...

If I am being completely honest, they were kind of a crap company. People forget that "episodic gaming" started with them some some 12 years ago and they have been putting out nothing but licenced crap and scraps from canceled Lucas Arts projects their entire existence. Even as a fan of adventure games I have to say they produced some of the worst. The only reason they lasted as long as they did was because they created a Walking Dead game when that series was at peek popularity.

This, the only game I liked from them was Wolf among us and Tales from the Borderlands. Otherwise they made alot of crappy games.
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What? Oh damn
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They've been having issues for a while now, and have repeatedly talked about how they grew beyond their capacity to support themselves, taking on more and more games to pay the bills, but with the resources required to produce those games increasing the weight that was pulling them down.

They basically backed themselves into a corner where they couldn't afford for their releases to fail, but they were also incapable of really innovating, which led to general burnout taking a toll on their sales.

It became very obvious months ago they'd either have to do a major internal slashing and total reorganization in order to survive, get acquired by a predatory publisher like EA or Activision, or basically just crash and burn.



Dikitain posted...

People forget that "episodic gaming" started with them some some 12 years ago

They helped popularize the modern incarnation of the trend, but they absolutely didn't create it, and they weren't even the first ones to pursue it in recent times.

We just tend to see them as the main exemplar of the trend because they literally do nothing OTHER than episodic gaming. And because most of the rest of the marketplace has moved on from it somewhat (in favor of even worse models), while they kept sticking to it.



Dikitain posted...

Even as a fan of adventure games I have to say they produced some of the worst.

As a fan of adventure games, I absolutely loved Tales from the Borderlands, thought Minecraft: Story Mode was far better than it had any right being, and generally enjoyed the first Batman.

I'll be sorry to see them go, especially since I don't see anyone stepping in to fill the void, especially since anti-consumerist live service models are all the rage these days.


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They had their share of hits and misses, but some of their games were really enjoyable narrative experiences

Walking Dead s1 stuck with me for a long time, I fell in love with the world of Fables after being introduced to it in The Wolf Among Us, and I can name very few titles that had characters as that I enjoyed as much as Tales from the Borderlands
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Well this stinks. Really wanted Wolf Among Us 2.
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I'm.. I'm just so tired of games I want getting canceled.
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Walking dead will never have an ending

This explains that the final season is ending early due to this

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/report-telltale-games-shutting-down-the-wolf-among-us-2-and-stranger-things-canceled

I wish they did Back to the Future season 2
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Tales from the Borderlands was awesome, but as a whole their games were very hit or miss so I'm not surprised to hear this.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

They've been having issues for a while now, and have repeatedly talked about how they grew beyond their capacity to support themselves, taking on more and more games to pay the bills, but with the resources required to produce those games increasing the weight that was pulling them down.

They basically backed themselves into a corner where they couldn't afford for their releases to fail, but they were also incapable of really innovating, which led to general burnout taking a toll on their sales.

It became very obvious months ago they'd either have to do a major internal slashing and total reorganization in order to survive, get acquired by a predatory publisher like EA or Activision, or basically just crash and burn.

I guess that's an object lesson in sustainability. Oo

VideoboysaysCube posted...

Well this stinks. Really wanted Wolf Among Us 2.

Given that they're likely to sell their licenses, it's probably not entirely out of the question.
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That's too bad. I enjoyed their TWD series. They did a better job story-telling than the last few seasons of the actual TV show.
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The final season of TWD was just cancelled as well
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I confused Stanger Things with Life Is Strange and got really sad for a second.

It would've really sucked not getting Life Is Strange 2.(especially after Captain Spirit)
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I don't know any one who buys episodic games by the episode. Everyone who buys them waits for a bundle.

That said, I thought they were doing well. Their games seem well received. Pretty bummed there won't be a WAU 2
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Far-Queue posted...

I don't know any one who buys episodic games by the episode. Everyone who buys them waits for a bundle.

Season passes?

I bought the season pass for their Batman game's Season 2 when it came with Season 1.
Despite being able to play Season 1 in 1 go and Season 2 as it released, I loved both.

Sad that story will not be continuing.
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Far-Queue posted...

I don't know any one who buys episodic games by the episode. Everyone who buys them waits for a bundle.

They're generally not sold by the episode; the only purchase option is the entire season.

It's kind of a holdover from way back when Sam & Max launched on Gametap. The game was released episodically on Gametap, a subscription service, and became available elsewhere as a single purchaseable package when the game was complete. Apparently they liked that model enough they kept doing it even when the games started launching standalone.
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Apparently they were just spending more and more money on licensing fees despite their games tanking
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I am not surprised their sales fell off after The Walking Dead. The first season was okay but that second season was just nonsense.

I also think most people are turned off by their formula. If you play a game twice you quickly realize that your decisions have little to no impact on the actual game or story.

They made some good stuff in the past but got too complacent with a never changing formula.

At this point, they're probably the most famous company for the use of "illusion of choice".

That said, I wonder if they're even going to finish the final season of their Walking Dead game at this point.

I also really liked they're unique portrayal of Batman, which had a heavy focus on Bruce as an actual character and not just "Batman's mask".
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DarkKirby2500 posted...

That said, I wonder if they're even going to finish the final season of their Walking Dead game at this point.

Zikten posted...

Walking dead will never have an ending

This explains that the final season is ending early due to this

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/report-telltale-games-shutting-down-the-wolf-among-us-2-and-stranger-things-canceled

Zikten posted...

DarkKirby2500 posted...

That said, I wonder if they're even going to finish the final season of their Walking Dead game at this point.

Zikten posted...

Walking dead will never have an ending

This explains that the final season is ending early due to this

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/report-telltale-games-shutting-down-the-wolf-among-us-2-and-stranger-things-canceled

Ah, the last time I read that article, the update had not been added.

Shame we'll never see the end of Clementine's story.
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I am not surprised. Their games lacked actual choices and just found different ways to force you down a single path.
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The literal definition of a one-hit wonder company.

First Telltale TWD was amazing. Everything after that was a complete disaster.
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Zeus posted...

I find the news surprising, considering that they were seemingly a pretty popular dev.

Thinking about it, it doesn't actually surprise me that much. They had a big surge in popularity as they basically brought point-and-click adventure games back into mainstream spotlight and had a couple of major hits, but that novelty has long since faded, and they're very much a one-trick pony as far as genres go. Toss in that their big schtick has been to make games around established IP's, which requires them to purchase expensive licenses, and I can see how they ran into problems.

Wow the fact that even TWD wont be finished is nuts considering its been partially released
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Mead posted...

Wow the fact that even TWD wont be finished is nuts considering its been partially released

This. They're gonna have to issue refunds.
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HelIWithoutSin posted...

This. They're gonna have to issue refunds.

They don't have any money it sounds like
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I liked the Batman game they made. Still haven't bought season 2 though.

Eh, maybe they should've done something else than episodic games for a change?
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LeetCheet posted...

I liked the Batman game they made. Still haven't bought season 2 though.

Eh, maybe they should've done something else than episodic games for a change?

I think a big problem is that they were essentially competing against themselves for a niche audience.
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It sucks but it is their own fault too. They never fixed the two biggest complaints. Releasing one episode at a time instead of a full game and making choices matter.
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It's always sad when a studio closes (unless it's like a, "we completed our mission statement, we're done, rejoice").

I personally didn't like the telltale games, as they are just visual novels... albeit very high grade visual novels.
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I wonder if I should be concerned about fast delistings...? I still need Batman and Guardians of the Galaxy...

Surely they'll at least put a little more effort in to the final episode they release of TWD, yeah? At least give it an end, even if it does come off as abrupt.
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Zangulus posted...

TsC_PoLiTiKz posted...

I wonder if I should be concerned about fast delistings...? I still need Batman and Guardians of the Galaxy...

Surely they'll at least put a little more effort in to the final episode they release of TWD, yeah? At least give it an end, even if it does come off as abrupt.

Nope. Its cancelled. Theyre releasing episode 2. But the last two episodes wont be made.

Yeah, that's what I mean. Surely they'll put a little more effort in to episode 2 to give the whole thing some sort of an end. Unless it's done already and just waiting to release? I don't really understand how they (Telltale) function, it seems strange.
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Surely they'll put a little more effort in to episode 2 to give the whole thing some sort of an end

I wouldnt count on it, the entire TWD team was let go
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Mead posted...

Surely they'll put a little more effort in to episode 2 to give the whole thing some sort of an end

I wouldnt count on it, the entire TWD team was let go

oh wows, and they didn't get severance or paid overtime. I'd suggest they should sue, but there's no money left
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Dammit now that wolf among us cliffhanger will never get resolved
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That's what happens when you let success get to your head and dip your finger into too many pies at once.
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I mean i liked the wealking dead games, but you didnt really have that much of a choice as to what happened, most choices ended up with the same outcome.