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Telltale lays off 25%; fewer games of better quality; switching up internal tech
- Thread starter ThatStupidLion
- Start date
Corpsepyre
Banned
Sucks for the employees, but maybe this will help the company focus more on titles, and few of them, as mentioned already.
Greatest Ever
Member
Sorry for the people. Company really ballooned after TWD.
I'll believe the rest when I see it.
I'll believe the rest when I see it.
Hostile_18
Banned
Higher quality games with smaller teams? Sounds like a shareholders meeting lol.
Bigby_Wolf
Banned
Hopefully everyone lands on their feet.
The layoffs aside the rest of that was sorely needed.
The layoffs aside the rest of that was sorely needed.
dottme
Member
Yes and no.
First, they might give up with their current engine and start to use Unity or Unreal. But this kind of move will impact the team in charge of the engine.
Also, they were doing a lot of projects at the same time. They might try to re-focus in less project and take more time for each of them.
I like telltale game, but when you see Life is Strange, you realize that Telltale needs to move forward. They were spending too much time doing the same thing.
ThatStupidLion
Member
agreed
telltale has fallen way behind in the interactive narrative genre.
Until Dawn and Life is Strange has left Telltale games in the dust, in every way.
those games feel more gamey even too than telltales, which i personally enjoy more of in this genre
LordOfChaos
Member
Sorry about the employees, but the other two items sound like what we've begged for.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
This news coming on the day that the last episode ("end") of Telltale Guardians of the Galaxy is releasing. Isn't it usually pretty normal for them to downsize staff somewhat after a big project - but maybe not this extreme?
Either way, I hope those affected by this restructuring land on their feet quickly. I see that they are providing staffing resources so that's a plus.
Either way, I hope those affected by this restructuring land on their feet quickly. I see that they are providing staffing resources so that's a plus.
life is Strange was also the momento i've noticed how much the telltale games were behind in terms of presentation and story. The last one i truly enjoyed was Tales of borderlands. Most of the time their games are predictable and ugly as sin. Most of the decisions matter as little as possible and entire chspters serves to nothing at all to the big story.
Man, telltale truly needs a shake up.
Sounds like it. Probably Unreal 4
Doug Heffernan
Member
Life Is Strange and Until Dawn have really raised the bar for this game genre.
Greatest Ever
Member
Until Dawn's gameplay was even worse than Telltale's, no way that raised the genre.
ThatStupidLion
Member
i think that is what this is about - they said they are going to get rid of their internal tech for already proven engines out there essentially
Kadayi
Banned
Unfortunate. I hope all those let go find opportunities elsewhere soon. I'm a little behind on my series, but I've enjoyed those episodes that I have played. However, I do agree that the engine tech is definitely something that despite massive improvements has been somewhat usurped by other developers.
Tonnes of people have been saying this. Its well known Telltale needs to fix their shit.
Stormblessed
Member
It feels like they've been coasting for a while now, so this is unsurprising. Serious changes will be necessary, I think. The formula they have is as transparent as their tech is outdated.
vypermajik
Member
As somebody who was laid off before... My thoughts go out with the people affected.
As a fan of their EARLY work, I hope this forces them to slow down and stop saturating themselves. Their last few games were not home runs. Maybe circling the wagons is the best step forward.
As a fan of their EARLY work, I hope this forces them to slow down and stop saturating themselves. Their last few games were not home runs. Maybe circling the wagons is the best step forward.
family_guy
Member
These games seem like they would be cheap to make. Maybe they just aren't selling like they used to.
Stiler
Member
Hopefully those affected land on their feet and find new jobs asap.
As far as the company itself goes, how many years have people been basically begging them to update their tech/engine? They've been using it as a crutch for so long and flat out seemed to be refusing to upgrade it as the years went by in terms of gameplay enhancements and fidelity it seemed (at least from the games I've played from them).
As far as the company itself goes, how many years have people been basically begging them to update their tech/engine? They've been using it as a crutch for so long and flat out seemed to be refusing to upgrade it as the years went by in terms of gameplay enhancements and fidelity it seemed (at least from the games I've played from them).
Agreed, just finished their last guardians episode that just came out. Super fun episode and season in general. But god are these episodes short and do they look like trash. The story and jokes are great but it could be so much better.
Duckhuntdog
Member
Quite the coincident that they are getting engine middleware and happen to be laying off a number of people while doing it; meaning you probably can guess who is probably making up the bulk of those being shown the door.
TimFL
Member
Theyve most likely learned the hard way. Wouldnt be surprised if their more recent games sold pretty bad in comparison to their early juggernauts like TWD. Their last few games were pretty bad in terms of story (TWDS3) and technical difficulties.
A 25% layoff and sudden less games, more quality restructuring is pretty random for a company that boasted about being able to handle all these different franchises simultaneously + kept on making new partnerships.
You could kind of see this coming: no traces of the already confirmed/announced GOT Season 2 or their own Telltale supershow that is supposed to revolutionize the genre (pretty sure it was announced to be revealed this year).
This is not a rant btw, I love their games and bought all of them (apart of MC, zero interest in that one) but you can see the stagnation/lack of quality ever since TWDS2 came out.
A 25% layoff and sudden less games, more quality restructuring is pretty random for a company that boasted about being able to handle all these different franchises simultaneously + kept on making new partnerships.
You could kind of see this coming: no traces of the already confirmed/announced GOT Season 2 or their own Telltale supershow that is supposed to revolutionize the genre (pretty sure it was announced to be revealed this year).
This is not a rant btw, I love their games and bought all of them (apart of MC, zero interest in that one) but you can see the stagnation/lack of quality ever since TWDS2 came out.
Agent_4Seven
Tears of Nintendo
Yeah, riiiiiiiight, the same goddamn shit over and over and over again and fewer games each year.
I hope these 25% will find a much better place to work and use their talents.
sephiroth7x
Member
So many mentioning Life is Strange. Only played it and finished it in the last few weeks and I have to agree completely.
It really opened up the genre to say, this is how it should be done, and made Telltale games look archaic. I like Telltale, I really do, and hope this shift in focus will help them make better games in the future...
Good luck to all those laid off, I am sure there will be some seriously talented people moving on to bigger better things.
It really opened up the genre to say, this is how it should be done, and made Telltale games look archaic. I like Telltale, I really do, and hope this shift in focus will help them make better games in the future...
Good luck to all those laid off, I am sure there will be some seriously talented people moving on to bigger better things.
Jangowuzhere
Banned
I think anyone could see this coming from a mile away.
Telltale simply tried to rehash the TWD formula for several different ips, and that plan basically went to crap. It was alright at the start with stuff like Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands, but the latest Telltale games aren't doing so hot. Sales for Batman and Guardians aren't exactly great last I checked.
Telltale simply tried to rehash the TWD formula for several different ips, and that plan basically went to crap. It was alright at the start with stuff like Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands, but the latest Telltale games aren't doing so hot. Sales for Batman and Guardians aren't exactly great last I checked.
GrimDarkDarrel
Member
Pontial New Employer: Let me see your resume... previous experience "Engine Programmer at Telltale Games"
...
"We'll be in touch"
It wasn't perfect, but i think it's a bit better than telltale ones.
On graphics though? It's impossible to even compare. Until Dawn kills it.