Telltale Games layoffs around 25% of staff in “restructuring”

Today, Telltale Games has laid off 90 staff members, which is roughly 25% of the staff. This restructuring is said to be an attempt to make the company more competitive as a developer and publisher with the ability to create fewer games of higher quality in a shorter amount of time, according to newly-appointed CEO Pete Hawley.

The restructuring will not impact any of the games currently in development, Telltale Games says. This announcement comes after the release of the fifth and final installment in the first season of Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series.

Fans of Telltale Games and industry professionals flooded to Twitter to give their reactions on the restructuring and support for the laid off developers:

I am NOT okay about the Telltale news. They are WAY up there in terms of storytelling and I would hate to see them fold.

— sairentohiru (@sairentohiru) November 7, 2017

So sorry to hear about the Telltale layoffs. Double Fine is hiring programmers / level designers / VFX artists. https://t.co/uiVcTt1WgQ

— Zak McClendon (@ZakMcc) November 7, 2017

Jesus, I feel awful for all of the people at Telltale. We are hiring at Insomniac! https://t.co/ilwRydE5Zv

— Ryan Benno (@BryanRenno) November 7, 2017

Other reactions on Twitter weren’t quite as kind, giving a skeptical look at the future of Telltale Games:

>Telltale games to focus on “delivering fewer, better games with a smaller team” pic.twitter.com/OBZDBvXn79

— Jero (@Fatgami) November 7, 2017

The company is also looking to pivot to “more proven technologies.” Who’s on the board of directors at Telltale? The CEO of Unity. https://t.co/9kEfUt3I9x

— Patrick Klepek (@patrickklepek) November 7, 2017

Telltale Games is not expected to halt development on any of its current projects. These projects include Minecraft: Story Mode – Season Two, Batman: The Enemy Within, The Walking Dead: The Final Season, and The Wolf Among Us: Season Two.