After the closure of Telltale Games, approximately 25 members of staff were kept on to fulfil various obligations left by the studio. Unfortunately, it seems that more staff have been made redundant since, reducing the skeleton crew even further.
Narrative designer Rachel Noel took to Twitter on Thursday to reveal that her and her team was abruptly laid off, after being tasked to complete the Minecraft: Story Mode adaptation in collaboration with Netflix. Just like other redundancies, Noel was similarly released without a severance package.
Heeeeyyyy remember how there was going to be a skeleton crew staying on for a while and I was part of it? Nah, jk, we all just got laid off, too.
— Retchel Necronoelicon (@anameformyself) October 4, 2018
It isn’t clear how many people remain at Telltale following this news, as Noel emphasises that there are “still good people at the company.” Needless to say with her newfound plight, her post acted as a personal update and she isn’t taking questions about the direction of the company following the news.
Previous reports see the company in talks with undisclosed companies to try and finish the remainder of The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Since the studio owes money to its former staff, there are a string of questionable morals in executing this plan. Sources talking with Kotaku suggest that the hiring of former Telltale staff is fundamental in such an effort, although it isn’t clear how many of the 225+ ex-members this would include if it comes to fruition.
KitGuru Says: Once again, our thoughts go out to all affected by the tragic and abrupt end to what seemed like an excellent studio on the surface before underlying problems came to light. Hopefully #TelltaleJobs manages to give a much-needed boost to those still in need of new employment.