Cognition Dissemination: The Telltale Revival Could Be Better
The news that Telltale Games is being revived seemed good upon reading the headline. It felt like the original Telltale died overnight when the company went out of business about a year ago, which came as a surprise given the success of adventure games like the award-winning The Walking Dead series, The Wolf Among Us, Batman: The Telltale Series, and others. That is, until it was revealed that Telltale didn’t really profit off those thanks to being based off licensed properties shared with other companies. They were also spending more than they made back and ran a crunch-driven business, both telltale signs of mismanagement (pun absolutely intended).
The Walking Dead: The Final Season finished thanks to the efforts of Skybound Games, who intends to rerelease the entire series in mid-September. The other series weren’t saved, and slowly but surely disappeared from store shelves and were delisted from digital storefronts.
So, there was much rejoicing as news manifested about their eventual reestablishment. The original company’s assets have been purchased by LCG Entertainment, with the new initiative being headed by Jamie Ottilie and Brian Waddle. Neither worked at the original Telltale, but they have experience in the gaming industry. They plan on redistributing the company’s back catalogue of titles, including the above titles outside of TWD, alongside Puzzle Agent. Making new titles in those franchises is also part of the plan, along with obtaining new licenses. Other Telltale series like Tales from the Borderlands and Minecraft: Story Mode are being looked at, but they provided no guarantee about getting them back after their rights reverted to the other companies involved.
There’s a big problem here, though. The new company is rehiring talent from the old Telltale alongside new employees willing to work on adventure games, but on a contractual basis. They could receive the same base pay, but won’t get the added benefits that come with full employment, including health insurance. This soured the news, even though this is far from the only company to do this nowadays.
Companies hiring employees on a freelance basis so they have less rights in the workplace and little-to-no benefits happens too often. They save plenty of money by doing this, with the heads having more to figuratively place in their pockets. It also makes it much harder for workers to unionize and strengthen their job security, since the pressure on each worker to obey the corporate rules is much higher when the employer can fire them at a moment’s whim with no repercussions. Worse, many of these employees are based in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the country — if not the most expensive.
It’s awfully coincidental that the news surfaced with this twist mere days before Labor Day, a time where the United States celebrates the history of the labor movement and the continued fight for workers’ rights. It’s become a more important occasion in a time when rights of employees are being slowly eroded, and the number of union members are decreasing. Just a couple of days ago, the Trump administration’s National Labor Relations Board said it was perfectly fine for companies to misclassify workers as independent contractors, despite a judge previously ruling otherwise. It’s sadly another sign of the times.
Other former Telltale employees are skeptical of the new initiative, partly for the above reasons, but aren’t being completely dismissive of it. Former lead writer Jessica Krause is among them, who’s hoping this new studio is “genuine in their intents” despite the skepticism. Former narrative designer Emily Grace Buck said this has been “difficult to digest,” but she’s choosing to be “cautiously optimistic” with the “enthusiasm of those involved.” She’s also “happy that the IP aren’t dead in the water.” It helps that the new initiative is being coordinated by Sara Guinness, who worked as director of operations at the previous company. Employees said she was one of the better people in management, and is providing hope that this could turn out well.
Yet, it still would be better if they gave the workers actual employment. I’m far from the only one who’d like to see a new The Wolf Among Us series, but it would be more comforting for the workers to have a sturdier figurative safety net under their feet. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the developers are hoping this will blow over when they start actually showing new games. My top fear is how they may not be wrong in thinking that will be a working strategy, considering the number of gaming types who only care about the end result.
While they get this all sorted out, making the older titles available again will be welcome. It’s possible some workers will discuss their desire for full employment with their new bosses, so lend them your support in spirit. In fact, now is a good opportunity to think about the past and present of the labor moment as a whole, given the occasion on Monday.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
