Telltale Games Is Back ... As A Different, Worse Company!

Remember Atari? The makers of the legendary video game console, Pong, and, uh, E.T.? Well, they're still a thing, despite having gone through a handful of sales and acquisitions, division splits, renamings, and rebrandings. It's a Ship of Theseus kind of situation -- sure, it's Atari in name, but can you really say they're the same company that helped build the video game industry in the '70s and '80s? That's the exact position Telltale Games finds itself in now.

It was a shock to the gaming world when Telltale suddenly shut down in September 2018. All but 25 employees were fired with no warning, no severance, and almost no time left with their health benefits, and had to leave the building within 30 minutes of being told they were fired. But worry not, Telltale has been revived by two dudes intent on bringing it back to life ... kind of.

Like Atari before it, Telltale has basically returned in name and brand only. But there is some good news: A few former employees will be getting their jobs back! Hooray! See, the corporate world can be kind and generous ... if you ignore that those employees will be offered freelance roles with "full-time positions possible in the future." Just think of how exciting this offer must be for those unceremoniously fired employees who've got the chance to jump back into their old jobs, but without their old pay, benefits, or security!

Who knows what Telltale's future holds, but the new owners have a background in mobile game development, and their titles will be published by a Chinese games subsidiary. So don't be too surprised if the former powerhouse starts pumping out pay-to-win mobile strategy games where the only innovation can be found in the exciting new ways they use the words "clash" and "clans" in their names.

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