In 2004, several members of LucasArts formed TellTale games. The focus was on a style the former was well known for: point and click adventure games. With some hits here and there, their recognition went through the roof with acquiring licenses from Universal to do games based on Back to the Future and Jurassic Park. Since then in 2010, they have done a lot of games based on big properties, with The Walking Dead being their most popular.
In the last week, TellTale has laid off nearly all of their employees, leaving them with only 25 now. More than likely, the odds are they are finished and are preparing to close. This comes as they are almost finished with their last Walking Dead game with only a few episodes left. It paints a different picture of the company, with criticism stemmed on their game engine, the games being buggy, and no severance for their employees who wasted long hours for nothing.
TellTale had said poor sales between The Walking Dead and Minecraft hurt them. I think that's an excuse. Personally, I think it's mismanagement and the costs associated with getting some of those properties. There's a lot more many don't know including myself what other problems they might have had. Add in potentially a lawsuit from employees for violating labor laws, and the mess that has been around for who knows how long is going to get messier. Definitely, a lot of their games after Walking Dead became mostly reskinned ideas and gameplay mechanics, but I think there was at least enough to differentiate.
Either way, TellTale killed themselves. Poor management and outdated tech hurt them and the point and click adventure genre may go extinct unless other companies step in like Square Enix is doing with those Life is Strange games.
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