Telltale Games lays off 25 percent of staff as part of major restructuring

The developer behind narrative-driven episodic games based on The Walking Dead, Minecraft, Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more, says the layoffs will affect 90 employees. The move is a part of a major restructuring that the studio says is meant to allow it to be "more competitive" (via RollingStone)

In a statement, Telltale says:

The decision is designed to make the company, a leader in player-driven narrative games, more competitive as a developer and publisher of groundbreaking story-driven gaming experiences with an emphasis on high quality in the years ahead.

The focus will now shift to making fewer games with smaller teams, says Telltale Games CEO Pete Hawley:

Our industry has shifted in tremendous ways over the past few years. The realities of the environment we face moving forward demand we evolve, as well, reorienting our organization with a focus on delivering fewer, better games with a smaller team.

Telltale says the move should not affect any games that have already been announced, which would include the second season of The Wolf Among Us, among others.

Telltale Games has become known for its myriad narrative-driven, episodic series based on popular properties like Batman, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and many more. With multiple series running at once, Telltale typically has a new episode release just around the corner at any given moment. With news that the studio is planning to slim down, we'll likely see the pace of releases slow down some.

The news comes as Telltale shipped the season finale of its Guardians of the Galaxy series, as well as the penultimate episode of its Minecraft Story Mode series.