Even though Telltale Games has essentially shambled into its grave, its most recent game is crawling back out of the dirt. Skybound Games has just announced that it has reached a deal with Telltale to continue The Walking Dead The Final Season and “wrap up Clem’s story right.” This is after Telltale had stated that it was looking for partners to complete the season.
Skybound Games’ tweet states that more details will come down the line. However, according to a statement relayed by Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller from New York Comic-Con, Skybound has claimed that the original team will come back and “finish the story in a way that fans deserve.” Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead, also confirmed in that statement that Skybound has taken ownership of the game series.
This naturally raises concerns about money and who is getting paid and who isn’t. Telltale notoriously did not pay its employees severance and their insurance ran out quickly after the studio closed. This treatment has gathered criticism from people around the games industry, including God of War Director Cory Barlog.
Completing this story would no doubt give some fans some closure but it also might raise a few eyebrows. Obviously, those coming back will get paid but it doesn’t mean the rest of Telltale will see any sort of benefits. This would likely seem unfair to the rest of the team, as some critics are already pointing out, especially considering the grueling conditions they all had to endure together. “More details” could entail compensation for everyone (not just The Walking Dead team) who was let go, but we will just have to wait and see.
This has been yet another detail in Telltale’s tumultuous past few weeks. The studio suddenly laid off a majority of its staff, canceled most of its upcoming projects, and then let go the rest of its “skeleton crew” only a few days ago. Telltale is also facing a class-action lawsuit for laying off its staff without a proper notice.
