Telltale Games sent 90 employees packing today as it laid off 25 percent of its workforce. The cuts, which the company claims will not affect any of the projects currently under development, come as the studio tries to restructure itself to be more competitive.
"Our industry has shifted in tremendous ways over the past few years," Telltale Games CEO Pete Hawley told GamesIndustry.biz. "The realities of the environment we face moving forward demand we evolve, as well, reorienting our organization with a focus on delivering fewer, better games with a smaller team."
Hawley expressed a deep respect for those that were let go and stressed that the cuts were not a reflection of their performance. The studio is offering career assistance services to those displaced by the restructuring.
"We have made available our full career assistance services to help our affected colleagues and friends - and their families - navigate this difficult transition as quickly as possible."
It also appears that Telltale will be changing up its development processes. Hawley talked in vague terms about transitioning creative methods to "more proven technologies." Developers are currently using Telltale Tool, a proprietary Lua-based game engine, for all its titles. The tool has been used since Out from Boneville which launched in 2005. The company might be considering moving to something like Unity or another well-established engine for future projects.
Telltale Games formed in 2004 and specializes in story-driven, point-and-click adventures. Almost all of its games are licensed from other IPs. Some of the properties in its stable include CSI, Sam & Max, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park. Current projects including Batman: The Enemy Within, The Walking Dead Season 4 and Wolf Among Us Season 2 are all on schedule and should not be delayed by the restructuring.