Death of a Game: Telltale Games

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Breaking news for those interested in the ever evolving story of Telltale Games. Skybound Games, a subsidiary company of Robert Kirkman's (TWD creator) has reached a deal with Telltale Games to publish the rest of the Walking Dead The Final Season. Article linked below. twitter.com/skyboundgames/status/1048735364452634626

[@Netreek]

Ohhh I soooo want to play the Final Season. :)

[@RomaniaOverpowered]

I am actually sad.

[@aguynamedjames8956]

that's great! i cant wait to see how it all ends.

[@RETRONuts]

Glad they have stepping in and they should cos there are part responsible for the game cos they partly made it,They own the copyright to TWD The Game. I never bought the last session cos of the warning of TellTale dying,I will get it when its complete.I am not buying half a game.

[@DannDorito]

But the story continues with skybound

[@chockabout]

It was a very frustrating experience to be a designer there. There was a drive among the designers, and most of the other devs in the trenches, truthfully, who desperately wanted to innovate, to push the story-driven game genre into new areas, but each and every time, any deviation from the "formula" (actually referring to it as such) was shouted down in review. And as schedules tightened, any time that could be spent developing new mechanics or narrative systems was pretty much vacant. Further eroding any attempt to innovate or strike into new territory were scene review meetings, where weeks of work could be tossed out and the scene re-done because of one person's objection: the one person who had absolute veto power over every little detail in every scene in every game. So beleaguered writers and designers would acquiesce, because hewing to the Telltale formula would at least get the episode completed within the tight time frames we were working under. I had to go to therapy because of the high degrees of self-doubt and creative burnout that resulted from the company's unforgiving work environment.

[@JayTohab]

Gosh, that sounds horrible.

[@reservedartist1141]

hope you are doing better now

[@zacheray]

People who find control want to keep it and expand it.. once that invades a company, everyone suffers

[@NotAGoodUsername360]

Victims of success, a tragedy all too common. I mean, that mentality single-handedly brought down the entire nation of Japan from an economic powerhouse to an economic disaster. Humans have a bad habit of assuming that because something worked once that it'll always work and that that's the ONLY way you can be successful. It's really, really sad. I'll always treasure those early games, though, back before TWD changed everything and gave the execs unwarranted confidence.

[@professionalhimbo]

Hope that you're doing a little better now, and that you've found a better work environment- or even that you're working at all, and decently content. From an aspiring gamedev to someone that's already dealt with the bs, I wish ya well.

[@Noname-rv3ks]

*Telltale will remember that*

[@HandOfThemis]

(X) >Doubt

[@FIRSTCLASSGAMER]

W

[@Chadius]

Don't worry, it won't change the outcome anyway.

[@gibran6190]

Good, we will just tell them to fuck off again lol

[@Pastafari4]

*Telltale dies in the next scene* then what the heck was that for

[@gibran6190]

“You could have a PC built by Jesus Christ himself and this game still will run at 10 fps” LMFAO

[@victoriaevelyn3953]

well he was a carpenter so it would be a bit wooden

[@MarillSweatshirt]

@roasted pancakes and?

[@NemesisX94]

@roasted pancakes Is he? Prove it. "Read thuh Bible" isn't evidence.

[@P9124]

@roasted pancakes "Comedic relief"

[@mehseeyew9180]

I remember hearing that. When did he said that about the engine?

[@elmoisred616]

My roommate used to work for Telltale Games and he was part of the first batch that got let go in late 2017, they did it the day he was leaving for Thanksgiving break. He came home and told us the news and it was a sad holiday. However he did get a severance package which was more than could be said for the last employees that were let go in 2018. That floated him while he looked for jobs in the Bay Area for a few months until he got an offer from a game company in England. He was unsure at first but he ended up taking the job and moving out of the country, we all ended up moving out due to that. It's crazy how Telltale closing ended up affecting all our lives... I remember playing the Wolf Among Us while hanging out in the living room when we lived together since he had the whole TT library on steam. Good times.

[@davidsaintcyr3384]

elmoisred616 wow that sucks.

[@Persephone01]

That is really crappy especially before Thanksgiving :(

[@elmoisred616]

@digifalc0087 moved to Europe and works for an indie game company now. Forgot the name, we keep in contact, he still hosts DND sessions with us over discord sometimes aha

[@2la84me]

Damn, thanks for sharing. Hearing things like that really puts the reality of it into perspective.

[@2la84me]

@@elmoisred616 Nice!

[@geryldpina7091]

It’s a damn shame we never got a wolf among us season 2

[@PrecookedEagle]

I was really hoping for that too, but the walking dead is apparently much more appealing to other studios, it's all about the money...

[@futonrevolution7671]

It would have been better than the later issues of the comic became.

[@kyotheman69]

never know we could get it from people that left and maybe they make their own company or they join up with two guys made Fire watch

[@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253]

It's... Really not. World can always do without a yet another gimmicky DVD menu game.

[@pca1987]

Agreed

[@friendlyspider88]

Telltale Games a company drunk on its early successes expanded too fast and too quickly, taking on too many various new games that diluted the quality story telling that captured their audience attention in the first place. It was a slippery slope from then on, as the continued losses on their new games meant even more desperate churning out of games in order to find another hit like Walking Dead Season 1

[@zomgl2pnoobffs]

If they'd just grown even half as fast I bet they'd still be around.

[@SereneMidnight12]

My biggest issue with Telltale is them hopping on huge IPs like Minecraft and Batman while refusing to innovate themselves. Like you said near the end of the video, every one of their games felt similar, just with a new coat of paint on each time. It screams "cash grab" to me, especially when you look at stuff like Minecraft: Story Mode and DLC episodes featuring Minecraft KZbinrs. Plus, I kinda got sick of this whole "Your choices really matter except they don't really. Like, at all" trend pretty damn quickly. Why bother even playing at that point when I can just read a synopsis online? You have to have different paths and routes through the story you tell.

[@BlueDavrial]

Close but not quite. They were actually *burning* money with most of those IPs, with Walking Dead and Minecraft being some of the few exceptions. No, they were *attention* grabbing, rather than trying to make good products or even make money

[@GeminiTasiri]

Well, from the sound of it, being in "permanent crunch-time" (urgh) meant they didn't have the luxury to try new things (which is probably also the reason they hang on to their bloated in-house engine for so long). They were in full-on conveyor belt factory mode, everything they'd change on their well-established formula would just increase development time (which they also probably didn't have since being able to turn out games so fast was part of their sales pitch) and cost (which would've just sped up the company's demise). It really speaks for the talent working at Telltale that despite all that still managed to churn out visually pleasing and diverse games instead of falling into the same trap, say Assassin's Creed, EA Sports games or even Pokémon to some extent fall into with their yearly releases And it's really a damn shame overall. I was really looking foward to The Wolf Among Us Season 2 - but after watching this video... maybe it's better this way. Telltale in 2018 was a different company than back in 2015/16 when Season 2 should've happened

[@bananatiergod]

To be honest, they actually made some pretty original choices for the Batman series. It's Batman, yes, but there's just so many alternate universes and variations to the story so you can forgive them for that.

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

Midi it’s like a laser. If you try to make the beam as wide as possible he will start loosing on power till all what remains of his once potent power is a warm beam of light. None of the Games Telltale put their horses on were made very well yet they still had to pay the development costs for the games that barely sold and with a huge member count the dayly costs of the company are huge as well. In the end it was just a pyramid scheme, the company only being able to work through the investment of other companies while their money didn’t went into the development of said game but the games they promised to do a while ago

[@Trakesh]

To be honest I'd have kept buying their games if their writing in TWD S2 wasn't irredeemable trash. An actual embarrassment to the entire medium of videogames.

[@maximus4765]

>Acknowledging sam and max in 2018 Bless you, buddy. Nobody really mentions them when talking about telltale anymore. Hell, not even telltale does anymore.

[@kyotheman69]

because the games didn't really sell that well, I played games back in 80s and enjoyed cartoon in 90s. This is very niche title

[@RexcorJ]

Great sales or not, they were good for what they offered. I love those crazy furballs.

[@NimhLabs]

To be fair, lucasarts never mentions them when talking about SCUMM games.. or people talking about SCUMM games. It is like Sam and Max is everybody's dirty little secret. Though, if there are any characters that would be at home with all the skeletons in my closet it would be Sam and Max. Which is EXACTLY why I don't keep them a dirty little secret...

[@mytruepower2]

I still think Sam & Max Save the World is the best thing Telltale ever did.

[@Pastafari4]

Heck, for a while I forgot they were famed for them, in the wake of like x amount of licensed games for 'the big' franchises. A game from them became like a brand keychain.

[@MrGabilonia]

Have you ever heard the tragedy of Telltale Games the studio?

[@gusmiccy1719]

It's not a story the IP holders would tell you.

[@VladK95]

Ironic

[@MarkoUntitled]

Have you heard of the high elves?

[@turtleanton6539]

Its not a story told by shill media.

[@gibberconfirm166]

@@turtleanton6539 You're a big studio.

[@jacksonlasley6621]

I know it hasn't really been brought up, but I absolutely hate the argument "let's players killed Telltale". They didn't. Detroit Become Human raked in money like it was nobody's business, and it was an adventure game in 2018 that had plenty of KZbinrs making videos on it. That game succeeded tremendously. The difference is that game had actual choices. A LOT of choices, with actual consequences that affected the way the game played out. Significant changes to the story were decided by a multitude of choices. Telltale just didn't do that, and it's the thing that killed them.

[@amberbaum4079]

Yeah. Their earlier games(before they went to their standardised comic look engine and episodic formula) were adventure games. Their TWD, Tales of the Borderlands, etc aren't even adventure games or games in a strict sense. So when people call them adventure games it is a bit insulting.

[@jakedizzle]

Exactly. If they just focused on one game at a time with branching story lines. I noticed it in the walking dead. I would replay a scene and chose different things. Same outcome.

[@kensley94]

Ehm...not really it was bad managing cause of quick succes

[@LightAndDarkMdness02]

Wow, that moment when your games are worse than something made by David Cage.

[@manputty933]

@@LightAndDarkMdness02 I know that's honestly impressive.

[@MshadowsenseoC]

Simply put. They got big, forgot their place, became a corporation that didnt give a shit about community feedback and eventually died out. Having shitty management can destroy a company fairly quickly.

[@Piyerus]

If there's one thing Telltale taught me, years ago, it was to always wait for all parts of an episodic game to be released before buying.

[@OneWingedRose]

I spent a good hour or three on the beginning of Game of Thrones deliberating and loading earlier saves to get what I viewed to be the best possible outcomes going forward. Only to learn that none of it mattered and that whole prologue may as well not exist. That was the nail in the coffin for me.

[@nokturnallex2160]

Yea I learned by the 2nd Episode of Walking Dead Season one that my choices were pointless. Carly, Doug? Doesn't matter, they die in the very next episode anyway. The condescending bullshit message of "Your choices matter" only pissed me off more and I refused to ever buy their shit again. I'd just watch my favorite youtuber play through it instead as they're basically just animated series because your choices are pointless. The sad thing is if they just spent more development time to actually make your choices matter, the games wouldn't have been so boring to play, but that would've cost more money. So they cut corners, but that led to consumers no longer wanting their product. I'd wager if they spent more money on making better games, they would've made more money off those better games. Instead of consumers realizing how pointless it was to even play their "games."

[@OneWingedRose]

I've never been one to see small differences in narrative as an "it should be bigger!" kind of deal. All my comment was saying was that in the Game of Thrones Telltale game, I spent a long time on what I thought were choices that would affect the story, only to find out that that entire section of the game is just meant to be a shock value intro that sparks the story they ACTUALLY want to tell. Like the prologue of Until Dawn. However, by making it as long as it was and still maintaining the illusion of your choices matter throughout that section, It was basically a slap in the face to the 3 or so hours I'd spent giving it serious thought. And that was when I stopped paying attention to Telltale games. Now, given how big the company grew and how many people were working on different things, it's quite possible that that was just a one off bad experience and for the most part the rest of the games are great. Alls we can really speak from is our own experience and mine is that that was enough of a slap in the face to kind of rob me of my desire to play more of their games. I wasn't saying anything that conflicted with what your opinion seems to be on their games overall. I am, however, now going to say something that I think DOES conflict with what you've said and that's this: The only limitation is time. If you want to make a game that has 5 narrative dividers, that leads onto another game with 5 start points that leads onto another game with 5 more start points each from the previous 5 start points... well, YOU CAN DO THAT! It does NOT take a narratively inclined super computer, it just takes (A LOT) of time and patience and (as time is money) money. Now, I'm not saying Telltale ever set out to be that NOR that them not being that takes away from the value of what they were. But I dispute your notion that it's physically impossible for a human (or team of them even) to do something like that in general.

[@OneWingedRose]

I wasn't advocating for them specifically to give more time (and thus money like I said) on their games, just refuting the idea that it would be impossible for a game (again, not necessarily a Telltale game) that has multiple ending points to have sequels created with multiple start points that lead to even more end points of that title and so on and so forth. Yeah, it'd be crazy, but I disagree if you're saying it's impossible to do in general. If you weren't saying that then fair enough.

[@notatrollll]

I really liked the characters and acting and overall story in Game of Thrones. But they took it way too far with the ending. What a useless mess

[@wholethedogsout880]

​@@OneWingedRose well you shouldve been advocating for this "to give more time (and thus money like I said) on their games" thats key to making a good game ffs

[@FIRSTCLASSGAMER]

If Telltale had a funeral this would be a perfect obituary. Good lord I wish they would at least finish the next season of the Wolf Among Us.

[@theenlighteneddespot3046]

yeah me too it was a good game

[@thehousealwayswins8398]

Chances are that it would have sucked, like most of their other recent titles. As the video stated, the Telltale of today isn't the same one that gave us the first season of the Walking Dead or Wolf Among Us.

[@theenlighteneddespot3046]

You are probably correct but you must also understant the adventure genre is very small when we lost telltale its was big blow who else makes such games very few studios do that telltale is all we had

[@brandonlyon730]

Were probably will still get a sequel but in comic form, they already adapted the first story in comic form so I wouldn't be surprised if they did the same just so theirs closure on that storyline.

[@theenlighteneddespot3046]

Better from nothing i guess

[@nubeyazul]

Other people: I’ll really miss clementine and bigby. Me: I’ll really miss Sam and max. :(

[@RexcorJ]

Same, bro... same.

[@ArchivistMarker]

So Do I,my fellow friend,so do I...

[@Pastafari4]

How bout Sam and Max AND Bigby

[@lightyearpig12]

They were a part of my childhood, along with Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, Wallace & Gromit, Tales of Monkey Island and the Poker Night games.

[@Yayofangamer16]

Someone else could buy the license for videogames

[@Pikasprey]

I only ever played Walking Dead season one. I liked it, but it was pretty apparent that I could have just watched the whole thing on KZbin for the exact same experience. Really turned me away from their games, especially when everyone was telling me that they were all the same anyway.

[@SerechII]

Same, amazing experience, not interested in going through it myself just for a few dialog differences

[@ViralForceMarketing]

honestly its how i got hooked on Lets plays, also that and yeah am kinda glad since they cut gameplay more and more out.

[@kyotheman69]

especially when final choice didn't really matter only one ending was true choice

[@CharlieBrown20XD6]

And you watching them on KZbin instead of paying for them is why they're out of business. If you would enjoy them enough to watch what they created then you should enjoy it enough to pay for it. Tired of people pretending stories should be free

[@ViralForceMarketing]

ok your in the wrong thread there. first off they went bankrupt due to shit mangmang ways and a bad ceo who basicly word for word made the whole thing a complete fuckup, as for there games not bringing in a profit, did you even watch the video it was the last season of the walking dead, lionhead backed out becouse fuck no one is buying them and if they want me to buy there goods there going to have to put more gameplay in side them, so fuck off with that statment.

[@diablerietandino1941]

Criminally underrated channel, a shame, you work damn hard on these videos. It's nice to get some quality videos about the inner workings of the game industry and not just someone ranting in front of a camera about how "woke" somebody or another is. Keep it up man, we need more channels like yours.

[@dxBIGBOSSxb]

Tales from the Borderlands was my first and only Tell Tale game. While it was a fantastic game that greatly expanded the lore and setting of one of my favorite shooters, it clearly suffered from those poor management issues. I remember buying it when Episode 3 of 5 came out new and played through those episodes in a single binge--hungry for more. A month passed... Then two... Four months passed and I stopped keeping track. Almost a *YEAR* later I got back into the game and saw episodes 4 and 5. I loved that game but I remember never wanting to touch another one of their games again--afraid I'd end up waiting a year and a half again for a product I'd most likely forget about. It's like buying into a crappier early access.

[@Pop_A_Chaderall]

Same.

[@kyotheman69]

should at lease check out season one of walking dead and wolf among us

[@dxBIGBOSSxb]

@@kyotheman69 I might one day, but most likely only Wolf Among Us. I'm not too interested in Walking Dead

[@Golemoid]

Hah. Are you sure about that? It ended on a cliffhanger, and we're most likely never getting season 2. At least TWD is a self contained story (further seasons are pretty much unrelated and the story goes nowhere anyway).

[@graveofmonsters4076]

And that's why the episodic content model died. The delay between parts loses you most of your fanbase. People don't want 3-5 hour chunks of things every 12 months with a 10 year delay for the 3rd part of the story. They want a finished complete game (and still don't get it thanks to DLC)

[@Nyos18]

I binge-watched the whole death of a game series this weekend and I must say I'm surprised you don't have more than a million subs since you obviously deserve it. you don't see this type of quality content from tons of other gaming channels. keep it up simply amazing!

[@jakedizzle]

Makethematt I just found this channel and I've been on KZbin since 2006. (Edit: it showed up in my recommended) Maybe the algorithm is going to help because I love this series.

[@kimarous]

Hopefully the rights to titles like The Wolf Among Us will pass to people willing to pick up where the Telltale series left off. I also hope that the genre they helped develop will survive, in a refined form, in other studios.

[@notatrollll]

Sounds like they are

[@josh7435]

Seeing how most of Telltale's games turn out the same and remain in a stasis regardless of what IP they're covering, I'm kind of glad they didn't do a Stranger Things. Don't get me wrong, I'd love an isolated non linear story involving a different Subject character than Eleven and a new narrative that isn't just the main story retold. But it looks like that's not what they were doing here, and maybe it would be best if a video game set in the Stranger Things' universe ended up in the hands of a different developer.

[@turtleanton6539]

Yeeeep

[@aguynamedjames8956]

telltale, great story tellers, amazing artist, horrible game designers.

[@ThatBugBehindYou]

I would argue they're mediocre story tellers and average artists.

[@bronzeager1298]

Yeah, the big problem seemed to be that once you played one Telltale game, there was little desire to play the others...just more of the same. I even started getting fatigued of the formula partway through TWD1, but kept going because of the characters.

[@Markm8]

If hey hand fantastic story’s I would argue they’d still be hear

[@ElemXCR]

Horrible management skills. They're okay in design. Otherwise telltale games wouldnt last after the first season of their TWD.

[@drakron]

Having a good story doesnt make a game good, it just makes it have a good story. One of the things that irritates me is that it seems a lot of game designers want to make movies and they use games to make those movies, interactivity is important in games and should not just be "press buttons to see the next cutscene".

[@vlweb3d]

*A CLASSIC CASE OF GREED ...* All they had to do was keep the team small, develop one game at a time and maximize profits. Greed can destroy any company.

[@vlweb3d]

futurestoryteller *BLAH BLAH BLAH !!!* Not interested. It's *GREED* ... end of story.

[@MrMMitchell]

Greed and/or a position of power are a far worse drug then any kind that can be manufactured

[@KantiDono]

14:30 "Overall boring, and what little gameplay existed was rudimentary. Easy puzzles, and hardly any way to influence or interact with the story." I feel like this one line sums up not just Jurassic Park, but all the Telltale games that followed.

[@AnimeBrosAMV]

Tbh i really like walking dead season 1 when it got released i remember i was blown out by it :D its really good to this day but they overused the formula xD

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

Ok. The momment the music went all dramatic when Kevin Brunner name was uttered is deffintivelly a highlight of the video. Talk about dying due to your own success

[@HandOfThemis]

The song choice is what got me. Some good ol' FF7 One Winged Angel

[@LadyPsychic]

Sephiroth!

[@BlueDavrial]

Thank you so much for dedicating so much time to Sam And Max. Those were the first games I played from them an their first popular games and, even if they werent that big, were the groundwork that the rest of their success was built on. And yet, despite that, everyone always seems to skip straight to The Walking Dead as their first "popular" game. Hell even TellTale *itself* often glosses over and forgets to mention their Sam And Max days. It's nice seeing those games actually get the representation and coverage time that they deserve.

[@adiveler]

To be honest, I really missed the more traditional version of their older games, which were more actual point & click adventure games and less interactive story! Yeah, The Walking Dead had a nice story, but personally - I enjoyed the Sam & Max games even more!

[@devindoherty8728]

I'm mostly sad about the way TWD went down. Like season 1 is amazing, classic game that made the company what it was. Then the 400 Days DLC came out and people liked it, but afterwords realized that it didn't matter much at all to the main story and season 2, although good, had the same problems as soooooo many Telltale games do where decisions don't really matter. Then Michonne was awful, honestly almost taints season 1 cause Michonne was so bad. And season 3 was only just above average. Season 4 though saved it. Season 4 redeemed the games and honestly makes me a little emotional since the final season wrapped up so good and was like a beautiful swan song to the company. RIP Telltale! You guys weren't perfect, but you had some gems...

[@tastydumpling7033]

40 min NerdSlayer? Damn what a lovely treat! Thank you for the great content you provide for us!

[@Mcdude02]

Bone is my favorite graphic novel series ever, no idea there was a game

[@unclewyrmwood]

Ooooh, gotta make some tea and get comfy.

[@CreepySuspect]

Вирмуд, ты лох

[@CountlessPWNZ]

POUR UP MY DOUBLE CUP OF LEAN TO WATCH NERDLAYER

[@stelleverde4589]

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Thanks for the lovely vid brother. I was afraid telltale would end up like this, by the time they kept getting ips and crunching their workforce. A sad tale but easily foreseen nonetheless.

[@brayroll7432]

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People was clearly Telltale's peak

[@SatoshiKong]

Homestar Runner was also the internet's peak. It's all been downhill from there.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Gaming went into steep decline following Oregon Trail.

[@cobtyrannon2479]

Without having it seen yet: Its clear as day why they needed to close. The game has absolutely no replayability. The story is awesome, no doubt about that. But once you have seen it, the game is useless. The gameplay is limited to one buttonpress at the right time. No one pays for that if he can experience the same game like a movie on a youtube playthrough.

[@da-vich757]

This is the first video I have watched of yours, and you, nerdSlayer, have a new subscriber. It is good to hear about the inner workings of a game company, even after its closure. It shows that you have done your research on the matter, and it is delivered in a calm intelligent manner, rather than being shouted at by some pompous idiot. I feel as tough I owe Telltale a thank you, for some good gaming memories, especially Sam & Max, Monkey Island, Walking Dead Season 1, Tales from the Borderlands, and, of course, The Wolf Among Us. However, as pointed out in the video, and in many of the comments, the company were unwilling to change their way of producing games. Where once it had seemed new and different, people quickly caught on that the decisions made in the game barely changed anything in the actual story. In the end, Telltale went for quantity over quality. It seemed as though the games did not develop, or evolve from the blueprint that was laid out by the first couple of games, TWD and TWAU. In the end, people want to see change, to see something different, not to play pretty much the same game with a different backdrop. In the end, thank you for the memories Telltale, and I will always wonder about 'what could have been..' for The Wolf Among Us 2. Da-Vich will remember this.

[@Matteo_11]

I really felt like they were at their best with things like Wolf Among Us, rather than telling what I consider to be second-rate stories of series that were already well televised. Its a shame that their failure in those ventures led to a cancellation of Wolf 2, not to mention the grave losses that come with their company collapsing. I wish they had gone for less known and less represented properties.. like comics, novels and Sam+Max level series.

[@lignenox]

I always suspected Jake and Sean were key forces in Telltale's writing. Their departure was silent but the impact was definitely felt.

[@keybyss98]

Basically: When you grow into a corporation, don’t act like a corporation. Your employees’ health & freedom are more important than your investors’ expectations and CEO’s yacht, as well as the quality of your products.

[@armyofninjas9055]

Welcome to Capitalism. Indie games are your only hope.

[@eduardoserpa1682]

The deal with Lionsgate probably had something to do with a Kingkiller Chronicle-related project, as the timeline coincides with their deal with Patrick Rothfuss to produce TV series, movies, games, comics, everything that could be done with the IP.

[@Mystrym]

I initially clicked on this video out of sheer curiosity and wanting to have something on as a pass-time...but man, this video was nothing short of engaging and really entertaining to say the least. Thank you @N.S. - much appreciated

[@FieryDawn]

This is definitely your best work. The "this just in" part was really awesome. Sad that the company had to go out like this. I remember reeeally liking The Walking Dead Season 1.

[@GeminiTasiri]

To spread a little more positivity in the comments: What's your Top 3 games from Telltale that people should play before their games inevitably get taken off digital stores? Mine would be: Tales From The Borderlands (yes, even if you haven't played Borderlands before) The Wolf Among Us Batman Season 1 (haven't played season 2 yet but it got good reactions as far as I could tell)

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Sam & Max is a good purchase too.

[@twinzzlers]

I'd say the the two batman games and borderlands. TWD is good but overrated

[@caderidley2309]

1. Tales from the Borderlands 2. Batman s1 3. Life is Strange (i know i know but its just so good anf without tell tale it mever would have been made)

[@CubiStudios]

It’s nuts how fast a lot of these games came out back to back when you see them all lined up in the timeline.

[@uzernamefail]

I played (and adored) Sam & Max seasons 1 and 2 back on the Xbox 360, but the later push for big-name licenses just lost my interest. The QTE focus of the Walking Dead was a huge turn off, as I preferred the more laid-back, "chill out with a controller and a cold drink" style of older adventure titles.

[@milenmilen3201]

"The illusion of choice"

[@theshadow4887]

Milen Milen You’ve clearly never played Batman the Enemy Within then, have you?

[@milenmilen3201]

I played all the walking dead, borderlands, wolf, thrones. Especially in thrones your choises are nothing (spoilers alert!!! - if no marriage, she dies; the house falls no matter what)...

[@theshadow4887]

Milen Milen In Batman The Enemy Within, you get to choose whether or not -Tiffany remains on your side or not -Your relationship with Catwoman -Alfred goes, or hang up the cowl -If Joker remains your friend or not - and of course, if Joker becomes a Knight Templar Vigilante, or the villain that we all know and love.

[@rv3029]

@@theshadow4887 whats does it all mean in the end

[@FraserSouris]

I'd argue the illusion of choice isn't inherantly bad Telltale Games are the video game equivalant of a "choose-your-own-adventure" book. That's not inherantly a bad thing. If you buy into that and invest into that mentality then you can have a genuanly interesting time with the specifics. What exact allies and enemies you made, callbacks to prior choices etc. It doesn't matter if the story itself is linear. The subtle touches, that can cynically be called the illusions of choice, can still make the story feel like your own. You're simultanesly the director and the audience of a story where you fine tune something that works for you and to you. All Video Games are illusions anyway. This just happens to be another valid take on it. We all buy into that for every game. We know that even games like Fallout or Elder Scrolls can only do so much. We know that Geralt in the Witcher 3 will do specific things no matter what happens. I'd argue the only times Telltale makes mistakes with this formula are when the writing is lacking or they fail to keep the illusion satisfying. When a Telltale game contradicts your choices, it breaks the illusion and the experience.

[@AceDreamer]

TLDR: *"you either die the hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"*

[@Scrubbles94]

I played Walking Dead Season 1 and I really liked it! Later on, I had just finished reading all the Game of Thrones books and saw the TellTale GoT game, so I bought it. I played the first episode. At the end of that episode, you have a conversation with Cersei, and you are given 3 clear paths to take. The one I originally got, ended with Cersei being mad at me, so I restarted that same part to be in good terms. Turns out, all 3 paths end with her being mad. I replayed the entire episode and nothing I did had any impact on any of the outcomes. I think the best thing about the episodic economic model, is that it gives you the chance to be dispointed without the need of buying the whole game.

[@Sarato]

This is so sad to hear. How they actually treated their staff and everything. :(

[@gauze8784]

R.I.P _Wolf among us and Batman_ *R.I.P* :The thing is is this actually depresses me the death of telltale

[@brianachim2670]

It's sad that there won't be a Wolf Among Us Season 2.

[@skullcapton499]

I say just go and read Fables.

[@notatrollll]

There will be now.

[@crystalclown96]

*As a fan that’s been playing since 2014 & the first Walking Dead game as well as watched as they’ve released their games over a long period of time: I must say I can ’t verbally explain how truly said I am that they’re gone. They’ve helped me feel more emotion than I’d ever think possible not just from the story, but also because of real life matters they’ve helped me through.* *I’ve played many many many videogames all throughout my childhood, and even though lore & shooters are the biggest things I strive for in games meaning all the games I love/enjoy have lore, however they aren’t all shooters. So I can safely say, Telltales Games is by far my favorite story-telling game. Again, can’t really verbally explain how much I love it.* *I love the feeling of waiting for the next “episode” to come out.* *It’s also fun to see what they plan to do next for games, I’ve enjoyed titles I didn’t even think I would because sure it’s based off other games or shows, it’s still done in their own way to make it incredibly fun & story driven.* *Every single game of their’s I played, I’ve enjoyed.* *These games are* *•(All of) The Walking Dead* *•(Both) Minecraft Storymode* *•(Both) Batman* *•Tales From the Borderlands* *They’ve all been awesome, fun, tear-jerking, emotion stories & I’m devastated they’d let that happen to make them go out of business...* ♥️♥️

[@sadpotato4931]

The metascore for Sam & Max season 2 is misleading. It was critically received better than the first season. You only showed the metascore for the bundle on xbox 360. If you look at the scores for PC you'll see each episode is rated 80 and above.

[@jbee1999]

Oh my god your videos are so well done u deserve millions of views

[@Nachy]

My fond memories of Telltale will always be behind their adventure games like Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island, Back to the Future, Puzzle Agent and Strong Bad's Game

[@dicemm5544]

You and the people who like your comment are probably the only people who actually enjoyed the games they made rather than the interactive movies they made.

[@brettstout5704]

Just finished your whole DOAG series. It has been great hearing all these stories and failures about games I really liked. Keep up the good work. Thanks for the series.

[@denizsahin4067]

Been waiting for this video since i first heard that telltale was closing. Great analysis and research as always.

[@36degreesMars]

great video! really gives you a sense of how cruel this industry can be. If I had known earlier, about how the company treated their staff, I wouldn't have paid for the last season of walking dead. Playing the game now, is just a bittersweet experience (maybe more bitter).

[@gmintraining4597]

Great video! Side note: in relation to the concept of telltale still selling their products. I learned recently that they are obviously no longer supporting anything and that their servers are basically gone bye bye. I recently attempted to play both Minecraft and Batman season pass discs on Xbox and while I clearly have the license and the episodes show as purchased, there is nothing available for me to download without ultimately purchasing the episodes again digitally. Telltale basically told me that they’re no longer providing support, and Xbox told me that there is nothing that they can do despite the fact that the digital versions are still available for purchase. So with that said, this is a warning, do not buy any season pass disc for any of the telltale games as at this point, u will not receive the full product.

[@avocato1180]

GM In Training At this point just pirat

[@austinhuber3131]

Somehow, Telltale Games has returned.

[@LetoAtreides82]

I liked my first playthrough of TTG's The Walking Dead season 1 and immediately started a new playthrough but sadly quickly realized that choices don't really matter much. Played through season 2 and felt it had the same flaw, and so did their Game of Thrones game. Never bothered with their games anymore after that. If choices don't matter you could just watch a playthrough on youtube and you'd pretty much get the same experience as if you were playing the game.

[@OliverSierraW]

I think the choices a player made mattered in The Wolf Among Us, like if you act more violent then by the end everyone will have turned on you. In one of the endings, you kill the main bad guy by ripping off his head, and it says that everyone now fears the big bad wolf. I hope that carries on to the next game and affects how you are treated at the start.

[@TheDarthpsi]

I'd like to say to any Devs that might still watch this video and read the comments: Thank you. I've played MOST of the TTG games and I had a blast with them, especially Tales fo Monkey Island (which brought Ron Gilbert back), and Tales from the Borderlands which as much funnier than the actual borderlands games, and even the minecraft ones surprised me given I don't particularly like the actual minecraft game. You guys did an AMAZING job, and even if you never get your rightful pay for your honest and devoted work, know that you've created a Legacy and works of art that will be enjoyed by players for generations to come. I completely recommend that people play these games. No formula is flawless, but the creativity and effort put in each of the games can be seen.

[@RoyalFusilier]

"Crunch isn't a triumph of the workforce, it's a failure of management." - Jim Fucking Sterling, Son

[@Tripod9648]

In large parts, choice-based games are very different to manage because developers still have to make different branches of the same game but with different endings. The problem is that with the speed and timing of the publication of these games, it wasn’t enough time too make any meaningful storylines with barely a year of development of two. While playing the Walking Dead games, I found myself trying to quit after a choice i made and see if anything would happen if I treat a character differently or make a decision that affects the entire story. But ultimately, I found myself disappointed that very little of my choices made any effect on the overall gameplay experience. Choice-based games NEED to invest large amounts of money and teamwork to reinvent and make it clear that the players actions does have consequences. I played Detroit Become Human and I was shocked by how many branching storylines I could embark on by making or taking different actions and decisions. In a way, I actually felt more invested in playing Detroit Become Human then i ever did playing The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead Games will always have a place in my heart. But unfortunately TellTales didn’t reinvent the wheel, by making the same formula over and over and over again, but just with different IP’s. TellTales didn’t practice patience and carful decision making strategies. Maybe they should have taken a page out of their own games.

[@gamersxpro1234]

A tale-tale game featuring the tale-tale company story?

[@ThatBugBehindYou]

Maybe if they took all the money being funneled into hiring and management then moved it into improving their games they wouldn't have failed.

[@zacheray]

If you don’t run a company, please do.. re invest your earnings back into the company’s product.. yes

[@heppuplays9125]

ladies and gentlemen 2022 is here to tell you that Telltale games is Somehow back. With the wolf among us 2 in the works.(seriously though i hope It turns out as well as the original.)

[@drlukas4242]

Not just the wolf among us. They are also developing a new game called the ‘expanse’. They are collaborating with some other team.

[@DieSerah]

Telltale was like Icarus that wanted to much and flew to close to the Sun

[@valentinward3657]

Telltale lacked the Icarus landing system and gameplay of the Deus Ex series. At least in those games you have plenty of ways to reach your goal even if said goal might stay the same.

[@novaaetas7492]

Holy shit this is really good. Good going man.

[@SaadNabil]

Now Wolf Among Us 2 is coming in 2023.

[@oliconbob3179]

This is probably old news, but apparently The Wolf Among Us 2 has restarted production. I think a company named LCG Entertainment bought Telltale or something like that.

[@Tysonyar]

This is a really good deconstruction of TTG’s history and business. You should be proud of this video. You just got yourself a new sub, I am looking forward to more!

[@TheDJMeyer85]

I remember being shocked when I heard that TTG was closing but now that I’ve heard their story it’s really not surprising it happened all

[@dnmph]

Hey, really like the series and was very happy to see that you discussed the labor issues involved in Telltale's closure, something that a lot of news outlets have danced around. Kudos!

[@tbone9474]

It's a crime you haven't hit 100k mate. Your content is top notch That said I enjoyed their walking dead season 1 and the game of thrones. Otherwise wasn't that enthralled with the other IPs

[@SerechII]

He's kinda boring and his delivery is bland tho, I still watch him and all but I bet I'm not the only one who thinks that

[@allanw]

I prefer this to getting yelled at

[@SerechII]

@@allanw for sure, I'd just like if he put any emotion into it, so it's not so "obvious" that he's reading this straight from a script, just a nitpick from someone that watched way too many of these "video essays", not hating btw, just some criticism

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

That's actually how my voice normally sounds.

[@tbone9474]

@@SerechII personally I like the calm but not monotone voice he delivers. It sounds like someone who knows his stuff without sounding pompous like Angry Joe

[@steelytemplar]

I'm glad that you put so much time into covering Telltale's more lighthearted releases. I know they weren't as popular as the much more dark Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us series, but it I really loved those earlier, sillier series. I was sad when they stopped making those. The last glimpse I can recall of the old Telltale absurd humor was in their Borderlands game, which was pretty hilarious.

[@Alevation]

I don't usually comment but it's such a great video. Thanks for reviving some of the game memories!

[@HandOfThemis]

This video was quite well done, and with a good bit of haste might I add. On a side note, The Walking Dead's chapter-intro music really sounds extra sad when played at the end of the video like that; beautifully done.

[@AnimeBrosAMV]

Ohh i was waiting for this one :D Just started to watch the video but good job man :D

[@Aix_Plainer]

They made many good games, many good adventure games. But the Jurassic Park switch to interactive book was their mistake. A few years ago i would have remembered Telltale as a great, small team bringing out niche adventure games. But now ... i feel absolute fatigue. The same, same, same, same game with the same cellshade estique and the same ´You saved person A, but person A dies at the end of the episode in a cutscene´, just with another IP.

[@shr1mpsush1]

Telltale returning from the dead was probably the greatest plot twist in gaming for 2021

[@drlukas4242]

They were bought in 2019.

[@beatniche]

I'd be interested in seeing your take on Portalarium's Shroud of the Avatar for this series. Released in March and despite Richard Garriot's name being attached to the project, its currently averaging fewer than 125 concurrent through Steam. Their Kickstarter had backer levels as high as $11,000 and a later attempt to crowdsource via seedinvest had golden castle rewards for $30,000 backers. RMT is allowed in game, so Richard pitched backing at these high dollar levels as 'financial investments' based, citing Ultima Online's RMT market prices. They promised housing would be limited to that provided in the Kickstarter, then opened up nearly 300 additional cities (which they sold to player owners anywhere from $600-$6000 a piece). They've now given away more than 2,000 free lots in monthly raffles since persistence (July 2016). Also, anyone who simply completes the story now also gets a home. 5 1/2 years later and 6 months after release, many of the cities remain clones of other cities. In July, again just 3 months after launch, they fired 2/3 of the staff (this can be verified via the 'Stand Up Notes' found on their forums, Check the current day, vs. any random day in March 2018). The COO (and cofounder of the company) also disappeared without an official announcement. Recently, Garriott also was removed as CEO from their website and Stand-Up notes, curiously the day after a Portalarium Board of Directors meeting. Its a real mess, but it seems, in my opinion, to be imploding right now. They just began their holiday sale yesterday, 50% off everything on Fridays through 12/21. Friday sales (at least from 12pm-12am) are tracked as part of a monthly telethon, centralizing their sales to that period. They're still pulling in around $65,000 a month.

[@Ilusen_Autumn]

"Adventure games have existed for decades, going as far back as the 90s" What about the Sierra Quest games of the 80s? I'd say those were pretty important to the genre (a nitpick in a video about Telltale, sure, but Sierra has an important place in game history, and it's a shame to miss out on them, even in something like this)

[@PiroKUSS]

What about the 70s? Colossal Cave, Adventure on the Atari...?

[@EisenroseCZ]

A 40 minute video? Damn, time for me to finally support your patreon, because the amount of work you put into your channel is just CRAZY. Thank you for making sense out of all that mess that is the timeline of Telltale's demise. I was shocked to learn there was so much ugly stuff I had no idea about even while I was still out there enjoying TTG's games, thinking they were doing just fine. I've been a fan since 2013, so this really hit me hard, but more than my own nostalgia I care about the wellbeing of the employees, who got terribly mistreated :(. Let this become a cautionary tale.

[@WhyAmplify]

Do Death of a Game: Evolve

[@sebbro9432]

That'd be a short one

[@randomnamemab]

Dead on arrival

[@Marshal_Dunnik]

What turned me off from Walking Dead and Batman was the realization that choices were an illusion and had no consequences *Telltale Games will remember that*

[@PrecookedEagle]

Hearing so much talk about bad management makes me fear for the future of CD Projekt Red, apparently their CEOs micromanage everything and the crunch is worse than it was at Telltale if any of the stories are true...

[@handler8838]

They are in better shape since they have a gov subsidy instead of private investors

[@RaithSienar]

I for one don't entirely believe those rumors. With Telltale we had actual people talking about their issues with bad management, with CDPR we have one, possibly fake, company review on Glassdoor. For all we know it was an intern that got fired and was super disgruntled about it.

[@Persephone01]

I don't really think so; we haven't heard any former employees speak out like they did with Telltale.

[@dreed100]

@@macdallanzero2145 He was right.

[@jynmori3256]

@@dreed100He was a visionnaire

[@acerains]

Apparently they remade the company working on Wolf among us 2. That skeleton crew survived!

[@tomkearns5123]

* Grabs popcorn * Oh boy, this is gonna be good.

[@Frank01001]

I'm actually sad about telltale going down. Even though I stopped caring about it since it stopped making adventure games to develop interactive movies. I remember playing Sam and Max games, and thinking "That's the sort of game I want to develop when I grow up". At least there is Wadjet Eye still publishing masterpieces. Goodbye Telltale Games, you will be remembered.

[@captainmudbeard1978]

That moment you realize you can’t have Wolf among us 2 😭

[@silvy3047]

I didn't even know they shut down. Seeing this video just made me realize how I haven't heard anything about these games since a couple years ago when you couldn't get away from hearing about them

[@rustymail2010]

This video is longer than most of a Telltale games :)

[@jasondotg]

I'm an older, casual gamer and I've been wondering what happened to all these interactive, multimedia CD-ROM / Shockwave / Hypercard - esque type games I used to play on my dad's Mac back in the 90s. Turns out this company was still churning them out! I remember OG Full Throttle, Sam and Max and Monkey Island, etc... I remember a lot of other random games from the time like Mummy (something) with Tim Curry as the archaeologist , the 5-CD X-Files game, Starship Titanic, etc... just off the top of my head. I just found this channel by watching the RIFT video and both were way in depth and interesting and put together perfectly. Looking forward to checking out more, Thanks for the quality vids. Ima keep an eye out for how the TellTale lawsuit with the ex-employees pans out and hopefully they get what they're due at which time I'll pick up some of these titles w/ a clear conscious. :)

[@jshadowhunter]

I hope some other company picks up the Sam and Max and revives the series. There's so much potential in it still.

[@FaiLhappy]

I don't usually write a long winded comment on youtube videos but great documentary of Telltale Games, probably the best account of their failure! This was really informative and interesting, especially as most other videos of this type didn't go into as much depth as this. I think your narrative is the perfect tone and very engaging too! I hope this channel gains more subscribers and views in the future.

[@ericaiman2808]

Good video! Why are you so underrated?

[@Horseofhope]

Telltale was among the few studios whose games I was pre-ordering or buying day 1. Saying their games are all the same is like saying TV shows are all the same "you've seen X-Files - you've seen them all". And what baffles me most, how people, seemingly willingly, misunderstand the statement "the game's story is tailored by the chices you make". Does anyone who has any idea how the games are made want devs to make up to 80% of the game of paths they'll probably never care to see? It's about playing the character the way you feel like, and choices are just there for the immersion, so you won't say "I'd never do that", the story just adapts to them, and that's just fine by me. Also second season of Batman was the best game they made so far, it's a shame people didn't even consider to check it out.

[@Aki-to]

I always hated Telltale games. I thought they were waaaay overhyped. It has little to do with what they are advertised with (freedome of choice, etc.) if you look a little bit closer. This is proven best by trying to replay any Telltale game. The outcomes are basically always the same. It was a big disappointment when I found out about that. Now that I see the praise you gave The Wolf Among Us, I am even more confused. This was the Telltale game that gave me the biggest disappointment. I remember playing this game and Minecraft: Story Mode, but seeing that the latter is supposed to be one of the best, I don't even want to imagine how garbage-like the others must've been.

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

Not only that, their supposed last "good game", The Walking Dead came around when the market was still oversaturrated with the zombie trend

[@JustSkram]

Overhyped company that was bound to fail due to not moving with the demands of the market. It's a shame people lost their jobs, that's always a given but their products will be forgotten over time.

[@helios2939]

If the "freedom of choice" put you off than you can always try one of their earlier works like Puzzle Agent or SBCGFAP. In the case of TWAU, even if you hate the choices you can't deny that the world-building and the characters are fantastic

[@ImproperNoun]

the wolf among us was really strong in the start but really fell apart later. tales from the borderlands was the best imo (probably the best thing borderlands related tbh).

[@seifeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

Agree they were overhyped even though I think the stories are interesting they get repetitive trough out each game and you can predict everything like everytime they tell the background of any character is a death flag lmao And also i despise the "gameplay" because there is none, it's there to remind you that it's a game and not a movie, and I thought it was funny that they put collectibles because the places where you can free roam are so small that you cannot miss them.