'The Wolf Among Us 2' is the first game to be announced since the shuttering of the original ... [+]
Telltale tonight announced the development of The Wolf Among Us 2, a sequel to the highly regarded narrative werewolf title released in 2013.
The game will not release in 2020, Telltale’s CEO told me, and the company’s next game after TWAU2 is likely to be based on brand-new IP.
Telltale Games folded in 2018, but a holding company picked up many of the assets earlier this year. This will be the first game from that holding company, LCG Entertainment, now doing business as Telltale.
The new game was announced on The Game Awards with this teaser trailer:
I caught up with Telltale CEO Jamie Ottilie to discuss the new title. Not many details are available yet, as it’s still very much in development, but here’s what we do know:
- It’s an Epic Games store exclusive for PC only, and will be on consoles. To celebrate, the original Wolf Among Us is free on the Epic service for a week, starting today.
- It’s licensed from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on behalf of DC.
- Telltale is producing the game in partnership with AdHoc Studios, a development group with a number of ex-original-Telltale employees. Those employees include directors Nick Herman and Dennis Lenart, writer Pierre Shorette, voice actors Adam Harrington (Bigby Wolf) and Erin Yvette (Snow White) and composer Jared Emerson-Johnson.
- Zac Litton, the original Telltale’s vice president of engineering is now Chief Technology Officer for the new Telltale.
- It’s based on Bill Willingham’s Fables DC comic book series from DC.
- It’ll have five episodes, and is a prequel set 20 years before the comic books but after the original narrative game.
- Some parts of it take place in Fabletown, and there will be a focus on Bigby and Snow.
- It is being written episodically, but it hasn’t been confirmed it will be released that way.
Jamie Ottilie
Heather Newman: Why was this the first title you chose to greenlight?
Jamie Ottilie: The Wolf Among Us is one the most beloved titles in the catalog and the one most often requested by the community. The sequel had been announced already and we did not want to disappoint our fans.
Newman: How did you choose who you'd reach out to, to return to work on this project?
Ottilie: We felt it was important to bring back the creative leadership on the title. The first priority was really on the writers and cinematic directors for the game, as we wanted this to be a true sequel – built by the same visionaries as the original. And it’s likely that we will add other key contributors as we ramp up the team. We will be opening positions in both Malibu and Corte Madera next year
Newman: Will this game feel the same as the first, or are you making changes?
Ottilie: We felt it important that the first game from the “new” Telltale be presented in a style similar to the original games. The game will look and feel like a “Telltale game.” There will be incremental changes and improvements that come with the new technology platform, and we have some interesting gameplay elements in mind.
Newman: There is no release date yet, but more broadly, are you thinking this is a 2020 game?
Ottilie: We aren’t announcing a release date just yet, but I can say it won’t be in 2020. We have rebooted development of Season 2 and intend to give it the time and care it deserves to bring the vision to fruition.
Newman: How many titles would you like Telltale to have in development at a time?
Ottilie: Right now, we are focused on getting one new title in development and onto the right track. Ultimately, we will need to expand the pipeline to support more than one game at a time. This needs to be done conservatively and over time, and will require staggering the schedules properly. The scarcest thing in game development are the creative and technical leadership needed to bring games to life, and we will only scale as we find the right people for these key roles. All of that is down the road a bit though, the focus right now is on one: The Wolf Among Us Season 2.
Newman: What factors will you consider to decide what comes next after this title?
Ottilie: I think it likely that the next title will be a new IP; one that wasn’t done previously by Telltale Games. Beyond that, it will come down to the right IP, the right concept, and the right visionaries to drive the titles.
Newman: Any final comments?
Ottilie: It’s great to finally be able to talk to about what we are actually doing. This is the path we have been on since May, and it has been so hard not to share what we are up to, or comment on all the requests and speculation. We're here to make great stories and have everyone be a part of them in the classic Telltale style.
