Closing down for good late last year, Telltale Games is set to return thanks to a company named LCG Entertainment, an outfit that has purchased the developer's assets. Apparently, LCG will sell off certain parts of Telltale's back catalogue, while working on games featuring both new and old licenses.
New games based on some of Telltale's properties could also be in the offing, while the studio will be overseen by Jamie Ottilie and Brian Waddle, with some workers from the original Telltale Games taking up roles on a freelance basis. Full-time positions will then be offered in the future.
Ottilie comes from a background in mobile games, founding Duck Dynasty and Power Rangers mobile game dev Galaxy Pest Control where he also served as CEO. Waddle was in sales and marketing for the Havok game engine, and together the team is looking to resurrect at least some of the studio's adventure game output.
That means there's hope yet for The Wolf Among Us and Telltale's Batman series to continue, alongside original Telltale titles like Puzzle Agent. Skybound owns The Walking Dead, however, so Telltale most likely won't be making any more chapters in that particular series, which concluded with The Final Season.
"There are some other expired licenses that we’re looking at," Ottilie told
Polygon. "We’re still evaluating, but we definitely want to continue some of the stories." Whether those plans also include IPs like Borderlands, Game of Thrones, Minecraft, and Guardians of the Galaxy is unknown. Rights to Stranger Things have reverted back to Netflix, so Telltale won't be finishing that one.
According to Ottilie, negotiations to resurrect Telltale Games go back as far as six months ago, with publisher Athlon Games forming a part of the "incredibly complex" deal. "Certainly we’re working very hard not to make similar mistakes," he said in reference to how Telltale's demise was brought about due to a series of managerial errors.
The new Telltale Games will have its HQ in Malibu, California, and will begin small, but look to grow over the years, while retaining the episodic model that the studio made its signature. "We’ll focus on tools, technology and design in-house. Some things like animation and motion capture will be done with the right partnerships externally," Ottilie explained.
"We will probably keep the concept of episodes but with different pacing. This is a different world, from a media consumption standpoint. We need to look at how people like to entertain themselves," Ottilie added. "I like the idea of binge watching."
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