Telltale Games Suffers Layoffs, Co-Founder Confirms Closure

Telltale Games, the studio best known for episodic adventure game The Walking Dead, has suffered significant layoffs and will close its doors.

Multiple sources told The Verge that the studio’s staff size has been reduced to 25 people and severance will not be provided for those who were let go. The remaining employees will apparently stay on board to complete The Walking Dead: The Final Season, but the status of the studio’s other projects is unknown. In addition to The Walking Dead, Telltale was developing a game based on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, as well as a second season of The Wolf Among Us.

The studio’s closure was later confirmed by a post on Telltale co-founder Kevin Bruner’s personal blog. An excerpt of his statement can be read below.

Today, I’m mostly saddened for the people who are losing their jobs at a studio they love. And I’m also saddened at the loss of a studio that green-lit crazy ideas that no one else would consider. I’m comforted a bit knowing there are now so many new talented people and studios creating games in the evolving narrative genre. While I look forward to those games and new developments, and continuing to contribute,  I will always find “A Telltale Game” to have been a unique offering.

Bruner left Telltale Games early last year, and this past June, filed a lawsuit against the studio after being forced off its board of directors.

While Telltale developed games based off of a variety of beloved franchises, including Batman, Game of Thrones, and Borderlands, many gamers felt that the quality of the studio’s games suffered as time went on. Criticism was often leveled against the studio’s dated engine, Telltale Tool, which was used for every game it released. Variety reported in June that Telltale would finally retire Telltale Tool and switch to Unity as its engine of choice, starting with Stranger Things.

Our thoughts go out to everyone effected by the layoffs at Telltale Games. Other studios in the industry are using the Twitter hashtag #TelltaleJobs to advertise open positions on their teams.