Telltale Games PS4 PlayStation 4 1

Telltale Games has laid off 285 employees, effectively ending the episodic developer’s operations. The studio is retaining 25 staff to complete the final season of its The Walking Dead adaptation, but online scuttlebutt suggests that its in-production Wolf Among Us and Stanger Things series have been cancelled. The Verge is reporting that none of the staff have received severance pay.

It’s been a turbulent time for Telltale Games these past few years, with reports of toxic management behind-the-scenes. Earlier in the year, former co-founder Kevin Bruner sued the organisation seeking recovery of financial damages. It’s not the first time that the firm’s been hit with layoffs either – last November it let go of 25 per cent of its workforce citing the “realities of [its] environment”.

From our perspective, the oversaturation of Telltale Games’ output has diminished the inherent novelty of its titles, which has no doubt had a huge impact on their commercial performance. Nevertheless, the studio was in the process of restructuring itself, so it’s a shame that it’s now unlikely to see the procedure through.

Naturally, our thoughts go out to all of those who suddenly find themselves out of work.

Update: New reports say that the final season of The Walking Dead has also been cancelled. You can read more about that through here.

[source theverge.com, via gamasutra.com]