Both the industry and the gaming community alike are still reeling over the sudden closure of narrative game studio Telltale and how it’s being handled. Following news that none of the employees were given severance or a heads up, Co-Founder Dan Connors recently took center stage to explain what happened behind the scenes and how they had “no choice” in how it all went down.
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Connors recently sat down with Variety to discuss the sudden closure and shelving of many projects in the works, including the highly anticipated final two episodes of The Walking Dead:
“The company was working diligently to close a round of financing,” he explained to the site. “Unfortunately, when the last potential financial backer abruptly pulled out, we were left in a position where we had no choice but to stop production. Sadly, everyone was so focused on doing what was required to keep the company going that when the last potential partner backed out, there were no other options.”
With several big names as financial backers, the most common report floating around is that it was Lionsgate Entertainment that backed out of a newly proposed financing deal, which is where everything fell apart.
According to those same reports, Lionsgate made this move so that they could put their financial focus on movies, not the projects Telltale Games had lined up. The common denominator of all of the floating reports is that there was a clash in vision, something former Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner has said in the past and even cited as his reason for leaving.
Former EA CEO John Riccitello was also on the board of directors in a long line of industry heads that have very clear visions of their own success. With so many conflicting takes, it made progression difficult – something that Connors also touched on a bit with Variety: The process of building something that has meaning and touches people is the most fulfilling thing a creative person can do,” he said. “But beware if you want to build a business: it is a perilous trip.”
Telltale Games is expected to make a big announcement sometime this week with definitive answers regarding title closure.
