Telltale Culls a Quarter of Its Staff As It Refocuses on Quality

I think Telltale must evolve a little. I like these types of games, but other story based games are stretching the genre more. (For example Until Dawn, Life is Strange) The issue for TT is pumping out so many games of the same basic formula in a short amount of time.

@hadlee73 that’s kind of what I was thinking. I hope they didn’t lay off those with the skill set to improve their engine 😉
And in all seriousness, good fortune to those that will now be seeking employment 👍

@BLP_Software I agree and lets not support secondhand games which no developer makes any money on.

Telltale have a massive flaw in their business model. People are wise to the fact that their games are ALWAYS on sale once one or two episodes are out. Look at the latest series of Batman, its currently 10 pounds off on PSN. So why should I buy on release date if I can get a discount a few weeks later.

People are bored of the broken engine (admittedly, the walking dead series 3 seemed to be a step in the right direction), and people want shorter waits between episodes. A reduction in workload will surely deliver the improvement in quality they hoped for

@BLP_Software It's clear that videogames can't grow so much and continue to be like it was in the past, and to me this is a sign that game industry was never meant to be this huge, somethings just have to stay niche.

That headline is brilliant! I will remember that

@BLP_Software eh no they don't?

Think once I'm done with Game of Thrones season 1 I'm done. The games boring mind a bit like TWD S2 that was also boring may get Season 3 not sure yet. But I do wonder if TT have pushed themselves to much they announced GoT Season 2 a few years back apparently nothing's been heard of since. And for me TWD S1 and Tales from the Borderlands were the only 2 best piece of games to come out

Maybe fix the engine

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi Or can the engine and start all over from scratch. As a trophy hunter I do like the Telltale Games, they're always an easy Plat.

Besides of Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us, I didn't really "like" the other games that much.

Their stupid looking cel-shading graphics look outdated. And I don't support episodic game releases, always waiting for a full release or bundle at a discounted price.

I hope they weren't the borderlands staff

If anything, they need to HIRE talented people who can do more than create compelling stories. Their engine has been awful and they need to do something about it for a change.

@BLP_Software

I respectfully disagree because your suggestions imply that games, and by extension primarily 'AAA' are not profitable with their current price point. On the whole, they are profitable. Is each project a risk? Yes. It is possible a game will not return its budget? Yes. Same with most forms of entertainment. Is EA raking it in? Yes. Is Activision raking it in? Yes.

I still don't understand where this perception is coming from that games are too expensive to be made and I'd love to hear your view. Sure game budgets have gone up, yes, massively. Yet no one would invest in these large projects if there wasn't a chance to turn a good profit.

Every publisher wants to make a tidy profit, they are big businesses with shareholders after all. They will go for the biggest market where they can make the most profit and sell the most. The closing of Visceral isn't because they weren't sustainable but because, in EA's eyes, they werent capable of producing the titles in line with their business strategies. Restructures and pivoting of resources happens all the time.

Now, the counter argument is that EA etc. are only making massive profits because of digital content on top of game sales. That is true - however, that is to maximise profit on an investment not necessarily to cover development cost. Profits have risen because of digital content, sure, but if games costs rose by say $10, that would not stop digital content being added to games. If you are interested on how much dosh publishers are making, I'd suggest the excellent video by Super Bunny Hop on Youtube where he investigates the offshore holdings and financial reports of major publishers.

As for Telltale - their current business model was unsustainable and I think they were stretched and sales have no doubt declined because of oversaturation.

@johncalmc

Games may have cost the same in the 90's but there was also a smaller pool of customers namely kids, the gaming landscape is completely different today what with a larger customer base and more importantly those who they are selling to are the ones with the cash opposed to 90's sales based around gifts and pocket money meaning games then were over inflated to cover costs and future development. The argument for increased prices today is fine as long as It's reflected in the product I'm not going to pay 60 for a game which is unplayable wthout a day one patch I mean no other business would get away with it you dont buy a car and they fit the breaks later or buy a sandwich consisting of bread with filling to follow sometime in the first week.

Hmm... Maybe some off the ex-telltale staff can start up their own studio. Two telltale type companies would give competition and thus raise the innovation and creative stakes. Anyhow good luck to the ex-employees on finding new jobs.

Telltale has been making way too much to lately, a season or 2 a year and that enough.

@Randomlight But then the games did not have a budget from 100 million did they?