I hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but things are looking pretty rough for workers in the game industry. Hardly any month passes now without the news of a layoff filtering into the media. While it was earlier rumored that Telltale Games laid off some employees last month, the company has now confirmed the news.
The news was first disclosed by cinematic artist Jonah Huang who posts on the X social media platform under the username @jjonahjonahson. Huang previously worked at Telltale Games as a cinematic artist. Some of the titles the cinematic artist worked on include Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, Batman: The Telltale Series, Minecraft: Story Mode, and The Walking Dead: Michonne.
I really enjoyed playing Batman: The Telltale Series, The Wolf Among Us, and The Walking Dead: Michonne from Telltale Games and fell in love with the studio—notwithstanding I usually struggled to download the games because of their large size (usually over 1 GB) and my poor internet connection.
ALSO READ: Close To 7,000 Sony Interactive Entertainment Current And Ex-Employees Affected In A Data Breach
In 2018, Telltale Games shut their doors and laid off almost all their staff without prior warning. Huang was one of the staff let go by the studio at that time. When a new owner took over the company and reopened in 2019, Huang was rehired, probably to continue working on The Wolf Among Us 2.
Sadly, Huang had to taste the bitter retrenchment pill yet again, just a few years after the first. Therefore, I was not surprised about his outburst on the X platform in a five-part tweet that did not hold back.
Telltale Games saga heightens the call for unionization in the game industry
“This is a sore subject, but I feel it necessary to add to the gaming layoff news: Telltale laid most of us off early September,” Huang began. “Status of TWAU2, I can’t say (NDA). Game industry, we must UNIONIZE.”
Huang also mentioned that the reason he rejoined Telltale Games was because of the excitement of working on TWAU2 (The Wolf Among Us 2) since he was a fan of the first game. The exact number of people laid off was not revealed. However, Huang noted that the “team was very small”.
“I signed an agreement not to cause any harm to Telltale’s business as part of my severance package,” Huang revealed. “But I am legally allowed to speak on behalf of being laid off, and this statement of fact is sincerely not an attempt to cause harm or [ruin] to the company.”
Another thing I found hard to figure out was whether the layoff affected people in different departments or just those working on TWAU2. Huang did not furnish us with that information. However, reading down the thread I found more interesting revelations.
ALSO READ: Massive Layoff Wind Blows Through Naughty Dog, Epic Games, Others
“This layoff came weeks after Telltale acquired a UK-based studio, Flavourworks,” Huang wrote. “Again I’m not saying this in an attempt to hurt the business. I’m just saying the fact of how it felt to be laid off: it was a real bummer.”
While I think studio acquisition is a big deal and great for expansion, it makes no sense to sacrifice workers for that ambition (and this is a strictly personal opinion). One thing that the Telltale Games saga has done is renew the call for unionization in the game industry.
“If you are currently working in the games industry and feel burdened by the layoffs news/state of the industry, please consider filling out the rates & conditions survey at gameworkers.org,” Huang said.
When I visited the site, the first news post I saw was an IGN survey that revealed how many game developers consider their careers unsustainable. I won’t go into details.
Huang agreed that Telltale Games gave him a better deal during his rehire. However, “it ended the same way most jobs in games end: a layoff, not a retirement”.
Just a wild question, how often do you hear about people retiring in the video game industry vs being laid off? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Telltale Games finally breaks the silence
Although this incident happened in early September, the media only got to know about it on October 5—through a string of tweets of course, not from Telltale Games. My wild guess, judging from Huang’s tweets, is that Telltale Games offered the devs a “good” severance package with one hand and a pen in the other to sign away their voice.
Perhaps, the company hoped to prevent the news from ever getting out. After about a month of silence, Telltale was forced to speak following the attention raised by Huang’s tweets. Geoff Keighley confirmed through a tweet on October 5 that he received a statement from Telltale Games.
“Due to current market conditions, we regrettably had to let some of our Telltale team go recently,” the company said. “We did not take this action lightly, and our commitment to storytelling and finding new ways to do so remains the same. We are grateful to everyone for their dedication along this journey, and we are working to support everyone impacted. All projects currently in development are still in production, and we have no further updates at this time.”
ALSO READ: 10 Female Video Game Characters Loved For Their Beauty, Brawn, And Bravery
The string of tweets from Huang was a departure from the kind of posts he usually makes which were either things about his games or pixel art. With the layoff, he plans to focus on developing his own games. However, he made clear the reason why he had to start the thread.
“This is extremely important to me, as someone that genuinely cares about the people who work in games,” Huang said. “I hate seeing abuse and exploitation continue.”
The last statement sums up the resentment that some game developers are currently feeling. However, they are forced to keep their lips sealed because of an NDA. So, what’s your take on rehiring Huang only to fire him again after 4 years? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
Remember to share and bookmark this website to stay up to date on all the hottest news in the gaming industry.
