The gaming company Telltale Games has been shut down.

On September 21 at 5:33 pm the twitter account of Telltale Games posted a statement declaring the end of their company. The decision to shut down was abrupt and up to 250 employees were laid off with no further notice, leaving many unemployed and without healthcare. Many employees were so furious they filed lawsuits against the bankrupt company. Others went to twitter to express their dismay creating the “#telltalejobs” thread.

The cause of all of this? Sales were plummeting, although many speculate that it was due to their outdated game engine, even though Telltale claimed to have abandoned that specific engine back in June of this year. Along with the fact that near the completion of a financial deal “a backer bailed unexpectedly,” as reported by GameIndustry. Telltale spent a year trying to fix their financial situation but it became too much to bear on the company and led to an ugly end for all involved with the company. Not only were jobs lost but of course game production was stopped right in its tracks as well.

Telltale’s most well-known, best-selling creation “The Walking Dead Game: Season 4” has been forced to go on a hiatus right in the middle of the four-part series. The game allows the player to buy a season pass for $19.99 but the pass has since been removed. On October 6th the company “Skybound Games” revealed that they will be taking on the task of completing the last season of The Walking Dead Game, after reaching an agreement with Telltale. Though production may not start until 2019 due to all the legal affairs that need to be handled first.

Customers have also been worried about whether the highly anticipated “Wolf Among Us: Season 2” and “Stranger Things” will be released. It is safe to assume both have been cancelled after not hearing anything about the two games for a little over a month.

The abrupt ending of the company to many gamers feels like losing a good friend. After 14 years it is hard to see the beloved Telltale Games meet such a tragic fate. In recent years they have a made a name for themselves with amazing episodic games that paved the way for more companies to hop on the episodic train.

LHS Junior Sean Long said, “Well, I’m pretty sad about it. They made some of the best RPG games. It will be sad to see them go. *sniffles* It’s cry-worthy.  He added, “I think it will not be able to recover with Telltale gone. Games will struggle to live up to it’s potential.”  Commenting on the potential for Skybound to adequately finish the serieses they’ve contracted to complete, Sean was noncomittal, but hopeful.  “I  want to see what they can do with it; I want to see if they can live up to what Telltale did with it.”