None of us saw this coming. While the news came out of nowhere, and some of us may have even anticipated it, the shock still hit us like lightning.
This past week, it was announced that over 200 employees at Telltale Games were laid off, effectively reducing the staff to just 25 employees with little to no hope of keeping its doors open. Telltale Games, known for their incredible storytelling, choice-driven adventure games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us, shook the gaming world when ex-employees relayed their disbelief of being let go as well as an official statement from the studio:
I wish the absolute best for the employees that were let go and hope they find success very, very soon. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that the studio was filled with bright, creative, and industry-defining artists, storytellers, and creators.
Few studios could pull off loose storytelling like Telltale Games. A trigger goes off in our brains that's equally exciting and a forewarning of what's to come when this tagline introduces us into one of their games:
"This game series adapts to the choices you make. The story is tailored to how you play."
From the get-go, we as players are aware that there is a personal responsibility of some sort in our playthrough. And the best part - we won't even realize it until we make a mistake.
Flashback to 2012 when Telltale released one their greatest episodic titles - The Walking Dead. Telltale has done franchise-based episodic games before (like Back to the Future and Jurassic Park), but The Walking Dead was a pop culture phenomenon during the time. As a fan of the show, I had to dive into the game and fulfill that fantasy of vicariously living through main character, Lee, in the hellish world of The Walking Dead.
During its 5-episode run, the game made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me care. Clementine, one of the game's protagonists, becomes more than the girl Lee finds in an empty house. She genuinely becomes the daughter Lee never had, the shining light in his dark world, his best friend. That same compassion is carried into the player, which makes it all the more sad when Lee has to let Clementine go. You can only hope that whatever lessons you taught her, whatever choices you made throughout prepare her for the world - prepare her to survive.
You want to know what's awesome? Telltale's The Walking Dead was only just the beginning. From then on, Telltale has been able to be a part of more franchises including The Wolf Among Us, Guardians of the Galaxy, Game of Thrones, Borderlands, Minecraft, and more. All with varying success, but success nonetheless. Each title emphasized the tone of the respective franchise, while putting their own spin with nail-biting cliff hangars and incredible story-driven adventures.
The Wolf Among Us stands as my favorite for its dark take on fairy tales and keeping me on the edge of my seat - story beats were exciting, your choices mattered, and the murder mystery title was filled with great twists. Same can be said with Telltale's A Game of Thrones Season 1 and The Walking Dead Season 2, except much more crying. Like, a lot. Unapologetically.
The past year, I was able to get through a backlog of games, two of them being Telltale's Tales from the Borderlands and Batman: The Telltale Series. Even in a year where we got God of War and Marvel's Spider-Man, Tales from the Borderlands and Batman still stick out in my mind. Their take on the Batman mythos was fresh and interesting, while Tales from the Borderlands had some hilarious and heartfelt moments I won't forget.
I love these games. I love the adventures they took me on. Every laugh, every tear, every significant consequence will not only be remembered by me, but by millions. Long story short, Telltale's legacy is forever immortalized in the gaming world. While the studio is regrettably in dire straits and future projects are officially cancelled, their incredible lineup of past games will live on and keep giving amazing experiences. In some way, I would like to think that their games made me a better gamer and most importantly a better story teller. For that, thank you.
All of the employees who were a part of that studio will undoubtedly find a new home and do great things. They are the same people who have shaped the future of story in video games, which is something to not overlook. Again, thank you.
I look forward to seeing where those creators, artists, programmers, writers, and more go next. Wherever they may end up, you can be sure they'll rock the house.
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