During a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) yesterday evening, Ian Howe, the CEO of Skybound Games, and Kent Mudle, the creative director for The Walking Dead, revealed some new information on the Skybound/Telltale deal on finishing The Walking Dead: The Final Chapter pulled from digital storefronts. They’re hoping to get the delayed episodes 1 and 2 back up for sale later this month, and want to get episode 3 ready for sale by the end of 2018.
Among the many questions asked during last evening’s AMA were some on the future of The Walking Dead: The Final Chapter. Although there are some approximate dates for completing certain tasks, the future of the series is still pretty up in the air. Howe confirmed that no one is currently working on any of the episodes and the finer details on the deal between Telltale and Skybound are still being fleshed out. Skybound has reached out to a large number of the former Telltale staff members, but Howe says the talks are still in preliminary stages:
At this stage, we’re still in discussions with various members of the team and I met over 40 of them last week to discuss our plans moving forwards. They know what we’re trying to do and as soon as the lawyers have done their thing, we’ll be able to speak more openly.
Howe reported that the contacted former employees were “extremely enthusiastic” about the possibility of returning to work on The Walking Dead: The Final Chapter. The only ones who definitely wouldn’t be coming back are those who already found re-employment. Howe is aware that the commute would be awkward, as Skybound is based in LA and the former Telltale employees were based in the San Francisco Bay area, but he said that they’ll find a way to make things work.
One of those who won’t be coming back is Emily Grace Buck, who was the design lead on episode 2. She spoke at the Sweden Game Conference at Skövde this week. Her presentation was primarily focused on the former Telltale employees who wouldn’t be returning to work and worker rights. She said that it might not be the only or best answer, but a conversation about starting a union for video game employees should be given serious thought.
Meanwhile, Kent Mudle, who worked with Telltale as the creative director for The Walking Dead: The Final Chapter, reassured fans that the games will stay true to the original vision. He’s very pleased to have gotten the opportunity to continue making the game.