But don't call it a comeback.
The Wolf Among Us

After being shut down last year, it appears as though Telltale Games is making a return. Well, at least the name is making a return. The assets that were still under the Telltale name were purchased by a company named LCG Entertainment. This company will sell some of Telltale's old titles and will reportedly work on new games based on old Telltale properties. These will be in addition to new licenses.

The new Telltale is being led by Jamie Ottilie and Brian Waddle. The two say that some of the original Telltale Games employees will be offered freelance roles, with the possibility of full-time positions possible in the future.

Neither Ottilie nor Waddle worked at Telltale in the past. Ottilie is the founder and CEO of Galaxy Pest Control, a studio that worked on licensed games for Duck Dynasty and Power Rangers. Waddle worked in sales and marketing for the Havok game engine. This new Telltale is located in Malibu, CA, a fair bit away from the old location in San Rafael.

The IPs now under their control with the Telltale name include The Wolf Among Us and Batman. Ottilie says that "there are some other expired licenses that we're looking at." The Walking Dead will not be one of the licenses that returns to the new Telltale as that is now owned by Skybound. With the old Telltale, a Stranger Things game was also in the works but that property has returned to Netflix.

Ottilie says that he purchased the rights to Telltale because he likes "games that tell stories."

"This is a viable business that went away due to market conditions and some scale choices they made. I like games that tell stories and I think our industry should have a company that specializes in narrative-driven games."
Ottilie says that negotiations on this acquisition began six months ago. At present, the purchase price has not yet been announced. Athlon Games will serve as as the publisher for Telltale and will handle the storefront and distribution. Other financial backers include Rebellion's Chris Kingsley, Heavy Iron Studio's Lyle Hall, and Tobias Sjögren (formerly of Starbreeze).

The episodic model will be kept intact but will be released "with different pacing." It's not made explicitly clear what was meant by that. For now, Telltale will stay small over the next six months. Ottilie says that they will "focus on tools, technology and design in-house." He continues, "some things like animation and motion capture will be done with the right partnerships externally."

A lawsuit against Telltale's former management from former employees is still ongoing.