Image courtesy of Telltale Games
With several seasons of games currently in production—the season finale of Guardians of the Galaxy drops today—there was no indication Telltale Games was in any trouble, but the studio announced today that 90 employees, roughly 25% of the the company, have been let go as part of a "comprehensive company restructuring."In a press release, Telltale said the move was in order to be "more competitive as a developer and publisher of groundbreaking story-driven gaming experiences with an emphasis on high quality in the years ahead." The layoffs will reportedly not impact any "previously announced projects," which include new seasons of The Walking Dead, Batman, The Wolf Among Us, and others.As part of the restructuring, the company will apparently "move internal development over to more proven technologies that will fast-track innovation in its core products as it works with new partners to bring its games to new audiences." That's a lot of words to say very little about what might happen.However, in the past, I've written about how Telltale's aging technology has impacted its most important appeal, story. It's possible the company has come to realize this internally, as well, though years too late and at the sudden expense of people's jobs.One thing to note: Unity CEO John Riccitello is on the board of directors for Telltale. Hmm.The release also included Telltale Games CEO Pete Hawley thanking the impacted employees for "all the contributions that these incredibly talented artists, storytellers, and more have made to the company," and noted they would provide "full career assistance services" to anyone impacted.Follow Patrick on Twitter. If you have a tip or a story idea, drop him an email: patrick.klepek@vice.com.Have thoughts? Swing by Waypoints forums to share them!
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