Episode 515: Telltale Closes

This week follows the stunning announcement over the closure of Telltale Games and the repercussions of the shuttering of one of the most influential companies in the industry. There’s also Scott continuing to gush about Dragon Quest XI and Jonah enjoying the 2008 version of Prince of Persia again. That, and Fallout 3 headlines the Gaming Flashback.

News of the week include:

  • Telltale employees left stunned by company closure
  • Swiss soccer fans temporarily stop game to protest esports
  • Brian Fargo will try to buy back Interplay if The Bard’s Tale IV sells well enough
  • Rez creator’s musical re-imagining of Tetris launches in November

Let us know what Telltale Games you were hoping to see in the future.

0 thoughts on “Episode 515: Telltale Closes”

  1. Hi guys.
    Thanks for this (and the few last) episode(s). I was very busy the last weeks, so i was not able to write a comment. Sorry for that! You deserve listener feedback 🙂
    Regarding Telltale: In my opinion this is very unfair to treat the employees like that. I am happy, that something like that is not possible in germany, we got special “insurance” for such a situation. But in addition it is sad, because i liked telltale and the games they made 🙁
    To our neighbours in the swiss: this is such a stupid move, and i have read this as well. Your comment, that i dont want to fight for animal right by thrwoing kittys at an animal shelter perfectly describes how stupid this protest action was.
    Regaridng the Tetris topic, i played a lot of Lumines and i love the game for it´s simplicity (like Tetris). Such games you are able to play for half an hour and dont have to remember any story or complicated moves. Most of the newer games, you need to know every button on the joypad, have hours of storytelling and complex storylines … i dont judge this, but these games are no games you are able to play for some minutes.
    To the question of the week: As already mentioned in the episode, i would love to see another Back to the future Telltame game 🙂 I think i already mentioned it once, but i am a real BTTF fanatic (my right leg is completly tattooed with BTTF).
    Last but not least: TJ, congratulations to your wedding! I wish you will have a beatiful marriage and will stay together forever!
    Greetings from germany and have a nice week.
    Ralf

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Episode 270: Same Bat Time…Episode 270: Same Bat Time…

This week is the battiest episode Gaming Podcast has ever done, and it’s not just because the crew argue over the first news item more emotionally than usual, but because it’s full of Batman. Lots of Batman. Plenty of Batman. In addition, the winners of the Spec Ops: The Line contest were also picked.

The news items this week include:

  • Square Enix exec says long console lifespans “biggest mistake”
  • No fee to be charged for connecting to Wii U network
  • Next Rocksteady Batman game will feature Silver Age Bats
  • Michael Fassbender pegged to star in Assassin’s Creed flick

All that and the question of the week, “Which Batman would you most like to see a game made from?”

Ensemble Studios To Close, Halo Wars Future Not In QuestionEnsemble Studios To Close, Halo Wars Future Not In Question

Ensemble Studios, owned and operated by Microsoft or, Microsoft Games Studios, has been targed to be dissolved. All employees will find new homes, a large quantity will start a new studio and continue maintaining the later released Halo Wars franchise.

Microsoft has chosen to close the studio as part of their growth plan of Microsoft Games Studios much like FASA was closed in the past. The difference, there is a new landing point for Halo Wars unlike the uncertain future of Shadowrun.

Commenting on the reason for the closure, Microsoft said, “This was a fiscally rooted decision that keeps MGS on its growth path. While the decision to dissolve Ensemble was not an easy one, Microsoft is working to place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft as possible.” (gamespot)

Ensemble Studio’s folks will continue to work with Microsoft and will continue to support Halo Wars after its launch. It is important to stress their statement of continuing to support Halo Wars, there is no need to think the project will be done half-assed or without pride as the project will live on with a different studio name.

The only question is… what is causing Microsoft to close down studios with actively working real franchise projects? FASA went down, Bungie was let go on their own and now Ensemble Studios? There has to be something going on here… idea?