After a report earlier today that Telltale Games was shedding its workforce for a skeleton crew of 25 people, the studio has formally announced that a full closure is indeed in progress.
The company has also confirmed that they will be working to fulfill current obligations as best as possible, and that more news about current and future projects that have been announced is coming soon. Although it’s safe to assume that any projects not already finished have been canceled. While it’s possible that The Walking Dead: The Final Season could get finished, it’s merely speculation at this point.
Current CEO Pete Hawley had the following to say on the closure, via a released statement:
It’s been an incredibly difficult year for Telltale as we worked to set the company on a new course. Unfortunately, we ran out of time trying to get there. 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.
Former CEO Kevin Bruner also released a statement on the matter on his personal blog.
In said statement, Bruner addresses the ongoing saga of the closure of the studio, also commending the staff for working as hard as they did. He added that “sometimes it seemed like we had more than we could handle but we stuck together and forged ahead” in regard to the studio’s workload. Bruner lamented the closure of the studio he helped build as a sad day for gaming, and indeed it is.
While it is indeed sad to see the studio going away, they’ll be remembered fondly as the company that did tremendous work in revitalizing a genre for a new audience, all while delivering quality gameplay and narrative experiences. We wish the former staff the best of luck in their future endeavors.
You can find Telltale’s full statement below:
— Telltale Games (@telltalegames) September 21, 2018
