Telltale broke the news just yesterday that the studio underwent massive layoffs, leaving hundreds of employees with no job and no severance pay. Now that they are down to a small skeleton crew to wrap up final loose ends, there are a few devs affected that are coming forward and revealing stark conditions that eventually led up to the abrupt shutdown.
One of the most notable devs that have spoken out is Emily Grace Buck, the narrative designer that was one of the leading reasons the initial report broke out.
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To clarify some questions people have been asking (and keep in mind I am NOT a company rep)
— Emily Grace Buck plz hire TTG devs! (@emilybuckshot) September 22, 2018
– Around 250 people are jobless, not 225
– We did not get any kind of severance
– Our healthcare only lasts for one more week
– Many former employees were contract & can’t get unemployment
She also mentioned in the surrounding thread, “Due to the insanely high cost of living in the Bay Area relative to pay scale, many of my (unbelievably skilled and talented) colleagues were living paycheck to paycheck and do not know what they are going to do to make ends meet this month,” wrote Buck. “There are people who started at Telltale as recently as a week ago. Some of those people have children. At least one of them relocated cross country.”
But she was by far not the only one “shown the door,” as she put it. Character Artist Brandon Cebenka also took to social media to reveal his thoughts on the situation with a word of caution to other hard workers out there:
“None of my sleepless nights or long hours on weekends trying to ship a game on time got me severance today. Don’t work overtime unless you’re paid for it, y’all. Protect your health. Companies don’t care about you.”
Other devs have come forward as well saying that the fast-paced environment was one doled out with abandon. One annoymous source told us, “The pressure was intense. You have all of these deadlines with no positive reinforcement. Just get it done, no matter what. Eventually you wonder ‘what am I even doing’ and now after being let go it makes you wonder what it was all even for.”
On a positive note, studios around the world are sharing their support. If you – or someone you know – has been affected by the recent closure, here is a list of studios actively wanting to help and are currently offering jobs.
