It’s been a sad week for video game studios. After the closing of Capcom Vancouver, another studio is in the midst of shutting down. Telltale Games, known for their episodic games like The Walking Dead and Minecraft: Story Mode, announced today after a few reports have surfaced that they’ve laid off a majority of the company’s employees.
— Telltale Games (@telltalegames) September 21, 2018
What’s worse is that these laid off employees will not be receiving severance pay, something Capcom Vancouver employees have gotten.
Re: I got laid off at Telltale
None of my sleepless nights or long hours on weekends trying to ship a game on time got me severance today. Don’t work overtime unless you’re paid for it, y’all. Protect your health. Companies don’t care about you.
— Brandon Cebenka (@Binkysaur) September 21, 2018
Telltale Games were originally founded back in 2004, and their portfolio can only be described as impressive. They’ve continued classic adventure games such as Sam & Max and Tales of Monkey Island, but their real claim to fame arrived with The Walking Dead, which help revitalize a dying episodic genre. After the success of that series, they continued their streak with Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy, Minecraft: Story Mode, and The Wolf Among Us.
Unfortunately, that means The Wolf Among Us Season 2 has been cancelled, with reports surfacing that The Walking Dead: The Final Season has also been canned.
Expect more news in the following weeks.