Update (6 pm Pacific): Noel clarified in a followup tweet that some people are still at Telltale, although she wasn't sure about the numbers, saying only that "not many" remain. We'll update again when more information becomes available.
The original story follows below.
I think there was some misunderstanding about my earlier message... There are still good people at the company. MY team is done.October 4, 2018
Original story:
Telltale Games underwent a "majority closure" in September that saw the elimination of all but a "skeleton crew" of 25 employees. CEO Pete Hawley insisted in the wake of the layoffs that Telltale wasn't actually closing, but would continue operating for the foreseeable future. Today, however, narrative designer Rachel Noel revealed on Twitter that the remaining employees have now been let go.
Heeeeyyyy remember how there was going to be a skeleton crew staying on for a while and I was part of it? Nah, jk, we all just got laid off, too.October 4, 2018
Noel said in a September tweet that she's legally barred from talking about the situation at Telltale, but in more recent tweets she's made her feelings clear. "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe," she wrote today, paraphrasing Rutger Hauer's famous Blade Runner monologue. "80-hour crunch weeks. Mismanagement of some of the industry's top talent. All of those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."
She also said that she, like the employees who were laid off in September, will not get a severance package.
Interestingly, because it was widely assumed that the remaining employees were being kept around to finish The Walking Dead: The Final Season, Noel also clarified that she was not on The Walking Dead team. Telltale said a few days after the layoffs were revealed that it was in talks with "multiple potential partners" to finish The Walking Dead: The Final Season, but there's been no further word on that front since.
We haven't seen similar statements from other remaining Telltale employees indicating that they've also been let go, but we're continuing to monitor the situation. We've also reached out to Noel and Telltale for comment, and will update if we receive a reply.
