Yesterday, news of Telltale Games imminent closure shook the industry and gaming circles alike. Whether through The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Minecraft: Story Mode, Tales from the Borderlands, or one of its other many releases, Telltale has earned many fans since its founding in 2004, almost all of which are heartbroken to see it, and its signature style of games, go.
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As one of the bigger, more notable, closures in recent years, many are simply dolorous, not only because of the many games and IP being left behind, but because there is now over 225 developers without a job, and from the sounds of it, in horrible situations.
And thus naturally, the doleful, shocked, and thankful reactions by fans have been overwhelming. Here’s just a glimmer of it:
It’s a terrible blow to the industry and to us fans to see you go @telltalegames. Thank you for inspiring so many of us over the years and for creating games we always looked forward to playing.
โ Life is Strange (@LifeIsStrange) September 22, 2018
Can’t begin to say how gutted I am. You are one of my most loved companies. You’ve made me laugh, cry & everything inbetween. Your games have brought joy to my whole house, from me playing walking dead with my wife to my son playing Minecraft Storymode. Thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/graBHVA171
โ Nick (@NJL82) September 22, 2018
Well…. it’s been a ride Teltalle. Whether they complete the final season or not #ThankYouTelltale pic.twitter.com/yvmgS9bbAv
โ P145 (@pod145) September 22, 2018
We will never forget the stories you told.
We will never forget the characters you created.
We will never forget how waiting for the next episode was.
We will never forget what you gave us, even though you lost money on it.We will never forget. pic.twitter.com/sPo6yBzH25
โ Proxy Fox (@ProxyfoxLP) September 22, 2018
The first TWD game got me back into gaming, after years of neglect after playing the same things over and over. Since then, I have had a blast with every TT game I have had the pleasure to play. All the best to all the talented people who made TT the great company that it was pic.twitter.com/o4btOfbFQM
โ Martyn Adams (@m_r_adams) September 22, 2018
There’s also been a smaller, less positive reaction of people angry about the prospect of not getting money back on The Walking Dead: The Final Season — which has seemingly been cancelled — pre-orders, but the majority of reactions are akin to the ones above.
The one bit of positivity born out of all of this is watching fans and the industry gather around the now 225-plus unemployed ex-Telltale staffers with support and even job opportunities.
It is a dismal, but important reminder to everyone that consumes video games that they are made by human beings, who often sacrifice quite a lot in making projects for all of us to enjoy.