Telltale
Telltale | |
Type | Subsidiary of LCG Entertainment |
---|---|
Founded | June 2004 (Telltale, Inc.) August 28, 2019 (assignment to LCG) |
Headquarters | Malibu, California, US |
Key people | Kevin Bruner, founder Dan Connors, founder Troy Molander, founder |
Industry | Video games |
Products | Video games |
Number of people | 250 (prior to 9/21/18) 25 (prior to assignment) |
Website | http://www.telltale.com/ |
Telltale is a game development brand held by LCG Entertainment.
Formation
Telltale was incorporated in San Raphael, California in June 2004 by Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors, and Troy Molander, all of whom had previously worked on Sam & Max: Freelance Police at LucasArts. Telltale was founded as a direct result of that game's cancellation on March 3, 2004. While at LucasArts, the Freelance Police team pitched the idea for cases of the game to be released episodically through digital media. They were told by the legal team that it wasn't a sustainable business model, so when the team formed their own company, they decided to try that business model for themselves.
Early titles
A number of the Freelance Police team joined Telltale upon its creation, and they began development on an in-house engine. This engine, the Telltale Tool, used the open-source LUA language for its scripts and was created to allow it to be updated to support additional platforms and graphics technologies, enabling it to be used in all of the games developed by the studio. Using the Telltale Tool, they began working on a game to test their engine, as well as the animation and storytelling which would be necessary when they began working on their own adventure games. This game was a poker game, which the team soon realized could be sold on its own, so they polished it to commercial standards and branded it Telltale Texas Hold'em. It was released on February 11, 2005, for Windows, primarily to test their digital storefront, which was named Telltale Now, but after 2007 was simply known as the Telltale Store.
A third Bone game, consisting of Eyes of the Storm and reportedly material from other Bone books, was announced in 2006. It was canceled in 2009, due to the fact that Telltale concentrated on the Sam & Max series and had lost the license to make Bone games by that point.
An episodic King's Quest game was announced to be in development by Telltale in 2011. It was canceled in 2013 as Telltale had lost the license to make a King's Quest game, and the intellectual property owners of King's Quest, Activision, intended to publish a King's Quest game themselves. The Odd Gentlemen released their episodic King's Quest between 2015 and 2016.
Telltale's first foray as a co-developer was in 2011, with Hector: Badge of Carnage, a game which they shared development duties with primary developer Straandlooper.
Mainstream success and expansion
In 2012, the release of The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, winning over 80 Game of the Year awards and selling 8.5 million episodes totaling more than $40 million in sales. After this success, Telltale expanded, from 110 employees to approximately 170.
In 2015, Lionsgate invested in Telltale Games to enable the two companies to co-develop original and existing intellectual properties for video games and television. Later that year, the Telltale Publishing label was formed. The first game to be published under this new label was the Jackbox Party Pack, followed by Mr. Robot 1.51exfiltrati0n, 7 Days To Die, and RGX Showdown.
Majority studio closure and assignment
In 2018, all of Telltale's investors, including Lionsgate, pulled out of investment in the company. On September 21, 2018, Telltale announced a majority studio closure, laying off 250 employees with a staff of 25 staying on to fulfill contractual obligations to their board and to their partners. The game that was developed to fulfill the contractual obligations was Minecraft: Story Mode for Netflix. On November 27, 2018, after the game was released, most of the rest of the employees were laid off as well, and Telltale filed for assignment.
The Wolf Among Us 2, Game of Thrones: Season Two, Stranger Things, and Telltale's Super Show were cancelled as a result of the majority studio closure. Beam Team Games also terminated their contract with Telltale Publishing when the release of Stranded Deep on consoles missed its release date and was pulled from digital storefronts.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season was completed by Skybound Games, who contracted some of the original team to finish the game from the Telltale offices.
Acquisition by LCG Entertainment
On August 28, 2019, LCG Entertainment announced that they had purchased Telltale and the rights to some of their games. The headquarters of LCG Entertainment was located in Malibu, CA, whereas Telltale was based in San Raphael, CA.
Telltale game rights owned by LCG Entertainment
With the acquisition of Telltale, LCG Entertainment acquired the rights to Batman: The Telltale Series, Batman: The Enemy Within, Hector: Badge of Carnage, Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, Puzzle Agent 2, and The Wolf Among Us.
The only Telltale Publishing title to which they had acquired the rights was RGX Showdown.
On June 26, 2020, LCG Entertainment acquired the rights to Tales of Monkey Island.
On November 7, 2020, LCG Entertainment acquired the rights to Telltale Texas Hold-em, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures.
Telltale game rights owned by other companies
Not all of the Telltale titles are owned by LCG Entertainment. The rights to Telltale's The Walking Dead games were acquired by the creator of The Walking Dead, Skybound. The games are now published by the company's video game subsidiary, Skybound Games.
The rights to Tales from the Borderlands were acquired by 2K, the company that holds the rights to the Borderlands franchise.
The rights to Telltale's Sam & Max games were acquired by Skunkape Games, a company formed by the franchise's creator, Steve Purcell, and other former Telltale staff members.
Projects developed by Telltale under LCG Entertainment
On December 12, 2019, The Wolf Among Us 2 was put back into production. It will be co-developed with AdHoc Studio, a studio formed by Telltale alumni.
On December 17, 2019, an optional filter was made available for sale for Batman: The Telltale Series and Batman: The Enemy Within entitled Batman Shadows Mode.
Games developed by Telltale (2004-2018)
Title | System | Release | Added to Museum | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Back to the Future: The Game | Windows macOS PS3 Wii iOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS4 |
2010-2011 2011 2011 2011 2013 2015 2015 2015 |
macOS/Windows: October 26, 2011 Xbox 360: October 14, 2015 |
Five episodes in the Back to the Future series. Telltale released a remastered version, 30th Anniversary Edition, in 2015. |
Batman: The Telltale Series | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2016 | macOS/Windows: August 15, 2017 Xbox 360: November 17, 2018 |
Five episodes in the Batman series. |
Batman: The Enemy Within | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2017-2018 | macOS/Windows: March 27, 2018 | Five episodes in the Batman series. |
Bone: Out from Boneville | Windows macOS |
2005 2006 |
Windows: December 23, 2014 | A single episode in the Bone series. |
Bone: The Great Cow Race | Windows | 2007 | Windows: December 23, 2014 | A single episode in the Bone series. |
CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder | Windows PS2 |
2006 2007 |
Windows: November 2, 2011 PS2: September 25, 2012 |
Five cases in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series. The WEC Museum owns the Super Pack for Windows with the first four games. |
CSI: Hard Evidence | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Wii |
2007 2007 2007 2008 |
Xbox 360: May, 2, 2014 Windows: November 2, 2011 |
Five cases in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series. The WEC Museum owns the Super Pack for Windows with the first four games. |
CSI: Deadly Intent | Windows Xbox 360 Wii |
2009 | Windows: November 25, 2011 | Five cases in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series. The WEC Museum owns the Super Pack for Windows with the first four games. |
CSI: Fatal Conspiracy | Windows PS3 Xbox 360 Wii |
2010 | Windows: May 4, 2015 | Five cases in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series. The WEC Museum owns the Super Pack for Windows with the first four games. |
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2014-2015 | macOS/Windows: July 23, 2015 | Six episodes in the Game of Thrones series. |
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2018 | macOS/Windows: November 7, 2017 | Five episodes in the Guardians of the Galaxy series. |
Hector: Badge of Carnage | Windows macOS PS3 Wii |
2010-2011 | macOS/Windows: September 23, 2011 | Five episode story co-developed with Straandlooper. |
Jurassic Park: The Game | Windows macOS PS3 Xbox 360 iOS |
2011 | macOS/Windows: November 15, 2011 | Four episodes in the Jurassic Park series. |
Law & Order Legacies | Windows macOS iOS |
2011-2012 | macOS/Windows: March 29, 2012 | Seven cases in the Law & Order series. |
Minecraft: Story Mode | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Switch Android iOS |
2015-2016 | macOS/Windows: March 29, 2016 | Five episodes in the Minecraft series. |
Minecraft: Story Mode - Adventure Pass | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Switch Android iOS |
2016 | macOS/Windows: September 13, 2016 | Three episode DLC for Minecraft: Story Mode. |
Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Switch Android iOS |
2017 | macOS/Windows: December 19, 2017 | Five episodes in the Minecraft series. |
Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent | Windows macOS PS3 iOS |
2010 | macOS/Windows: June 30, 2010 | Single episode in the Puzzle Agent series. |
Puzzle Agent 2 | Windows macOS PS3 Xbox 360 iOS |
2011 | macOS/Windows: June 30, 2011 | Single episode in the Puzzle Agent series. |
Poker Night at the Inventory | macOS Windows |
2010 | macOS/Windows: May 18, 2010 | A poker game crossover with Sam & Max, Penny Arcade, Homestar Runner, and Team Fortress 2. |
Poker Night 2 | Windows macOS PS3 Xbox 360 iOS |
2013 | macOS/Windows: May 27, 2013 | A poker game crossover with Sam & Max, Evil Dead, Borderlands, The Venture Bros. and Portal. |
Sam & Max Save the World | Windows Wii Xbox 360 Switch Xbox One |
2006-2007 2008 2009 2020 2020 |
Windows: October 17, 2006 Remastered Switch: December 2, 2020 Remastered Windows: December 4, 2020 |
Six episodes in the Sam & Max series. Skunkape Games released a remaster in 2020. |
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space | Windows Xbox 360 Wii macOS PS3 iOS Switch Xbox One |
2007-2008 2009 2010 2010 2011 2012 2021 2021 |
macOS/Windows: April 6, 2008 Remastered Switch, Windows: May 6, 2022 |
Five episodes in the Sam & Max series. Skunkape Games released a remaster in 2021. |
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse | Windows macOS PS3 iOS |
2010 | macOS/Windows: May 18, 2010 | Five episodes in the Sam & Max series. |
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People | Windows macOS PS3 Wii |
2008 | Windows: December 15, 2008 macOS: January 13, 2011 |
Five episodes in the Homestar Runner series. |
Tales of Monkey Island | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2009 | macOS/Windows: October 20, 2015 | Five episodes in the Monkey Island series. |
Tales from the Borderlands | Windows macOS PS3 iOS |
2014-2015 | macOS/Windows: November 25, 2014 | Five episodes in the Borderlands series. |
Telltale Texas Hold'em | Windows | 2005 | Windows: February 11, 2005 | A poker game that is the spiritual predecessor of Poker Night at the Inventory and Poker Night 2. |
The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2012 | macOS/Windows: November 20, 2012 Definitive Windows: December 2, 2020 |
Five episodes in The Walking Dead series. Skybound Games released a Definitive Edition remaster in 2020. |
The Walking Dead: 400 Days | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2013 | macOS/Windows: July 2, 2013 Definitive Windows: December 2, 2020 |
DLC episode for The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series. Skybound Games released a Definitive Edition remaster in 2020. |
The Walking Dead: Season Two | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2013-2014 | macOS/Windows: August 26, 2014 Definitive Windows: December 2, 2020 |
Five episodes in The Walking Dead series. Skybound Games released a Definitive Edition remaster in 2020. |
The Walking Dead: Michonne | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2016 | macOS/Windows: August 26, 2014 Definitive Windows: December 2, 2020 |
Three episode side story in The Walking Dead series. Skybound Games released a Definitive Edition remaster in 2020. |
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2016-2017 | macOS/Windows: May 30, 2017 Definitive Windows: December 2, 2020 |
Five episodes in The Walking Dead series. Skybound Games released a Definitive Edition remaster in 2020. |
The Walking Dead: The Final Season | Windows macOS Xbox One PS4 Android iOS |
2018-2019 | Windows: May 30, 2019 Definitive Windows: December 2, 2020 |
Four episodes in The Walking Dead series. The first two episodes were developed by Telltale. The final two episodes were developed by Skybound Games. Skybound Games released a Definitive Edition remaster in 2020. |
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures | Windows Xbox 360 iOS |
2009 | Windows: July 30, 2009 | Four episodes in the Wallace & Gromit series. |
The Wolf Among Us | Windows macOS Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Android iOS |
2013-2014 | macOS/Windows: July 8, 2014 | Five episodes in the Fables series. |
Games developed by under the Telltale brand by LCG Entertainment (2019-present)
Title | System | Release | Added to Museum | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Expanse | Windows Xbox One PS4 |
2023 | Not yet | Episodic story in The Expanse series. Co-developed with Deck Nine. |
The Wolf Among Us 2 | Windows Xbox One PS4 |
2024 | Not yet | Episodic story in the Fables series. Co-developed with AdHoc Studio, a studio formed by Telltale alumni. |