One year after declaring bankruptcy, Telltale Games will return to operation. The company was purchased by LCG Entertainment, which will revive some Telltale properties and work on new ones. This turnaround brings hope to fans of The Wolf Among Us and Game of Thrones, whose games had been canceled because of the company's bankruptcy.
The Game of Thrones games would have received a second season. The news came from Polygon, which interviewed Jamie Ottilie, one of LCG's owners. He said Telltale will rely on freelancers to develop future games and may eventually offer more formal contracts.
When asked why he made the purchase, James said it was because he believes in the future of the adventure games in which Telltale specialized.
"This is a viable market that disappeared because of market conditions and some decisions made by the previous management. (...) I like games that tell stories, and I believe the industry should have a company that specializes in narrative-focused games."
Even so, The Walking Dead games will no longer be produced by the company, since their rights were acquired by Skybound.
The company used many existing franchises in its games, such as Guardians of the Galaxy. Publisher Athlon Games is also involved in the Telltale purchase agreement and will be responsible for distributing its games. Telltale's games are usually released in episodes sold separately at intervals. James intends to evolve this episodic system.
"We will probably keep the concept of episodes, but at a different pace. We are in a different world when it comes to media consumption. We need to observe how people like to entertain themselves. I like the idea of binge-watching."
By binge-watching, James means the phenomenon of someone watching a large amount of material from a franchise "in a single sitting." Applied to games, he may be referring to releasing many episodes within a short period to engage consumers more effectively.
