The final season of the fan-favorite 'The Walking Dead' video game may be left without an ending after huge layoffs at its developer
- "The Walking Dead: The Final Season" video game may be left unfinished due to layoffs at Telltale Games
- Since 2012, "The Walking Dead" players have been making their own choices in the story-driven, critically-acclaimed video game. "The Final Season," which recently started, promised to finally wrap the story after so many years.
- "The Walking Dead: The Final Season" was scheduled to last for four playable episodes - but now, episode 2, due out September 24th, will likely be the last.
Video game developer Telltale Games shocked the gaming industry when they laid off some 90 percent of their staff on September 21st, in anticipation of what appears to be a total shutdown of the company.
Known for narrative driven "choose your own adventure" games based on popular franchises, Telltale had enjoyed critical success with titles based on hit properties like "The Walking Dead," "Batman," and "Game of Thrones."
The announcement was particularly surprising to fans of Telltale's "The Walking Dead," who were expecting a new entry into the series in just a few days. "The Walking Dead: The Final Season," is the culmination of six years worth of storytelling, and players have been able to carry over their own personal decisions and story developments between four different releases in the series so far.
Each Telltale game has been released in a series of playable episodes that are about 2 hours each. Players can pay for a season pass in advance and play through all the episodes as they are released, which are usually released a month or two apart. "The Walking Dead: The Final Season" was planned to be four episodes long, with the first being released on August 14 and the second due on September 24th. But with the sudden shuttering of Telltale's operations, the ending that some players have been working towards for years may now be in jeopardy.
In a statement on September 21st, Telltale Games confirmed that all but 25 members of its 250-person staff had been laid off. Melissa Hutchinson, the lead voice actress of "The Walking Dead" video game, posted a statement to Twitter sharing her fears that the final season would be left incomplete after episode two is released.
Hutchinson played Clementine, a young Asian-American girl who comes of age in the zombie-infested world of "The Walking Dead." Players shaped the personality an eight-year-old Clem with their in-game decisions as she grew into a powerful protagonist in her own right. After three full seasons of character development, Telltale promised a conclusion to Clementine's story with "The Walking Dead: The Final Season."
Now, gamers who paid $19.99 for the final season's may be short changed for the last third and fourth episode might be short changed, and fans who have invested their time in "The Walking Dead" game for the last six years may be left without closure.