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Former Telltale Games artist claims a mass layoff happened in early September

Cinematic artist Jonah Huang claims the studio laid off many of its developers in early September 2023.

TJ Denzer

October 5, 2023 5:00 PM

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If anything has been horribly consistent this year, it’s the sheer number of layoffs happening throughout the games industry. Unfortunately, Telltale Games seems to be the latest to let go of its staff, which is even more concerning given recent news surrounding The Wolf Among Us 2 and the rightful ownership of the Fables IP. Telltale would go on to confirm the layoffs and claim the game is still in production, though it seems to be going through tough times.

Cinematic artist Jonah Huang was one of the first to share word of the Telltale Games layoffs, claiming that a large portion of the team was let go in early September on his personal Twitter. Huang shared a full thread with the details he could share (due to a non-disclosure agreement) below:

Telltale would eventually respond to word of the layoffs, sharing a statement via the Telltale Games Twitter:

Huang worked at Telltale in both of its incarnations, having been the cinematic artist on the Batman Telltale series, Minecraft: Story Mode, and The Walking Dead: Michonne, to name a few. Though the company liquidated and pursued bankruptcy in 2018, it would eventually come back and announced The Wolf Among Us 2 in 2019, which Huang was rehired for and thrilled to work on. He goes on to share that he has no ill will against Telltale, but rather calls for the gaming industry to right its way amid a gauntlet of layoffs happening over the last few months.

“I want to end on this note: I do not want Telltale to fail,” Huang wrote. “I genuinely want to see it succeed. Telltale gave me a good deal this time around, but still, it ended the same way most jobs in games end: a layoff, not a retirement. I ask my fellow game devs to fight for better.”

With these latest layoffs hitting Telltale and the Fables IP rights currently in turmoil, it will remain to be seen when we get our next look at The Wolf Among Us 2. One thing is certain, though. It seems things aren’t looking great for Telltale in the immediate future. Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story for further updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.