The Death of Telltale Games

[BillJ]

Interesting read on the fall of Telltale games...

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/4/...es-studio-closed-layoffs-end-the-walking-dead

 

[Owain Taggart]

It's sad, but It's something that ultimately could have been avoided. It's like they were constantly trying to catch the big fish, snapping up big expensive licenses and hoping it was enough to generate big hits to keep them afloat. They literally had no IP of their own. Apparently they were going to slow down a bit and had plans of an IP of their own, but little too late. I've never heard of a developer not having an IP of their own before. Normally it would be one of the first things a developer would do to get themselves established before jumping on to big licenses. But people knew the founders from their previous jobs, knew their pedigree and apparently that was enough for them to be considered for the licenses. Soon it would seem, they were chasing the big pop-culture trends and leaning on them a bit too much. I think investing earlier in an original IP would have done them some good in the long run.

 

[SPCTRE]

Given the extent of the layoffs, the case of Telltale shines a stark light on the shitty labor practices of the games industry.

It's a reminder that video games are made by people.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yep, it's more important than ever now perhaps unionize the games industry. Workers need protection and compensation.

 

[SPCTRE]

Yep, it's more important than ever now perhaps unionize the games industry. Workers need protection and compensation.

amen to that!

 

[JD]

Damn, I didn't realize things were that bad there. I'll confess, so far I've only played Episode 1 of The Wolf Among Us, but I had planned to on checking out at least the Batman games, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

[SPCTRE]

checking out at least the Batman games, and Guardians of the Galaxy

haven't heard very good things about Guardians, but I definitely recommend Batman

also, Borderlands (yes, even if you're not into the franchise, trust me)

 

[Kronos]

Batman and Wolf Among Us are fantastic games.

This seems to happen to pretty much every game company, that or they are bought by EA or Microsoft.

 

[Timby]

Yep, it's more important than ever now perhaps unionize the games industry. Workers need protection and compensation.

Never going to happen, unfortunately. Hell, at GDC this year, anti-union literature was being distributed, and while you might think the industry would be left-leaning, a significant amount--possibly even the majority--of software developers classify themselves as either libertarian techbros or outright conservative.

 

[Owain Taggart]

And that's a shame. As games have become increasingly complex, devs have been treated more and more like peons and as long as a union isn't in place, the companies behind them will take advantage of workers and get away with it.

Personally, I feel it's not a question of if it will happen, but when. Something's going to give, and it starts out with issues like what happened at Telltale. Either a new union will be formed or game developers will join an existing one that will welcome them.

 

[Timby]

Personally, I feel it's not a question of if it will happen, but when. Something's going to give, and it starts out with issues like what happened at Telltale. Either a new union will be formed or game developers will join an existing one that will welcome them.

Not going to happen, not with almost every state in the US having passed bullshit "right-to-work" legislation. As it is, of the most recent data I can find, literally only 6.6 percent of private-sector employees are unionized, and that number continues to decline.

 

[XCV330]

Never going to happen, unfortunately. Hell, at GDC this year, anti-union literature was being distributed, and while you might think the industry would be left-leaning, a significant amount--possibly even the majority--of software developers classify themselves as either libertarian techbros or outright conservative.

chickens voting for col. sanders.
I worked in the gaming industry. for 3 months. it was 3 of the funnest months I had in IT, but I could see how chaotic it was, and got out. Better to play them then help make them.

 

[BillJ]

chickens voting for col. sanders.

Seems we've had a lot of that over the past few years.

 

[Timby]

Seems we've had a lot of that over the past few years.

Crab mentality is a powerful and ugly thing. It's hard to underestimate the willingness of people to vote or act against their own self-interests.

 

[JD]

Crab mentality? I've never heard that term before.

 

[Timby]

Crab mentality? I've never heard that term before.

Basically, it's when a person thinks, "If I can't have this, then you can't have this." It's in comparison to a mentality of, "If you have this, why don't I?"

The idea comes from crabs in a bucket clawing each other down trying to get out, and it's emblematic of workers' rights in this nation right now, and has been for a while.

Edit: The prisoner's dilemma has often been used to develop both pro-union literature over the past few decades.

 

[Thestral]

haven't heard very good things about Guardians, but I definitely recommend Batman

also, Borderlands (yes, even if you're not into the franchise, trust me)

Their Walking Dead is amazing.

Which reminds me I need to finish A New Frontier.

 

[SPCTRE]

Their Walking Dead is amazing.

well, S1 is very good

Spoiler

let's not talk about S2

 

[Thestral]

Spoiler

Aww, I really liked S2. Playing as Clem was great, curious about your issues with it.

 

[SPCTRE]

Spoiler

Aww, I really liked S2. Playing as Clem was great, curious about your issues with it.

tough to put a finger on it, it was probably a whole range of issues but mainly the narrative had zero impact on me compared to the first season (and I love Clem as a character) which is a major issue if the narrative is 98 % of your game

that being said, I don't know if I could make it through (let alone "enjoy") S1 again now that I'm a dad