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Game Workers Unite issues scathing response to Telltale Games layoffs

“The system for creating games is broken, and it will result in the collapse of many other beloved studios”

Game Workers Unite issues scathing response to Telltale Games layoffs

A movement to unionise workers in the games industry has issued a scathing statement condemning the redundancies at Telltale Games.

The episodic narrative developer laid off the majority of its staff at the end of last week, keeping a skeleton crew of 25 to close out remaining projects. High-profile series’ like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us are said to have been cut short or cancelled as a result.

Game Workers Unite, an organisation formed following this year’s GDC to increase awareness of workers' rights within the games industry, placed the blame squarely in the hands of what it labelled “incompetent” and “exploitative” Telltale Games executives in a statement this weekend.

“They knew that this was coming and failed to warn anybody,” said a spokesperson for GWU.

“We know that the management disregards their workers. Several reports have continually highlighted the working conditions at Telltale, demonstrating that this is more of the ongoing prioritisation of board members and shareholders that has existed since the studio’s founding - always to the detriment of their employees.”

Our sister-site PCGamesInsider.biz has the full story.


Staff Writer

Natalie Clayton is an Edinburgh-based freelance writer and game developer. Besides PCGamesInsider and Pocketgamer.biz, she's written across the games media landscape and was named in the 2018 GamesIndustry.biz 100 Rising Star list.