However, as time passed (and technology advanced), more and more players moved to graphically more sophisticated titles, such as first-person shooters like Call of Duty. In the 1980s and 1990s, LucasArt released critically acclaimed and beloved titles like Monkey Island, becoming one of the leaders in the adventure games genre. For example, Bruner and Molander worked on a game called Grim Fandango while Connors and Bruner helped with the release of Sam & Max: Freelance Police.Īnd it was the Sam & Max franchise that ultimately inspired them to launch Telltale Games. Throughout the years, their paths would cross multiple times. Bruner worked as a lead programmer while Molander managed the Technical Art Department. Connors joined as a quality assurance supervisor and eventually became a producer. The trio met when they joined LucasArts in the mid-1990s. Telltale Games, formerly headquartered in San Rafael, California, was founded in 2004 by Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors, and Troy Molander. How it came to be, the successes it celebrated, as well as the reasons that led to its demise will be covered in the next two chapters. Telltale ultimately went bankrupt in October 2018. Lastly, the games could be played on nearly every device, ranging from PCs to Nintendo Switch or the PlayStation 4. The games were made available on a variety of platforms, such as Steam or Telltale’s own website. Players could either purchase individual episodes or season bundles. Games were developed using Telltale Tool, a game engine that was created by the company itself (led by Kevin Bruner, one of the studio’s co-founders). New episodes within a season were made available around every two to three months.ĭecisions that were made in one episode later carried over to the next one, which ultimately affected how the story ended. The majority of titles that it released were based on established intellectual property (IP), such as Sam & Max, Wallace & Gromit, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, or Batman.Įach release had a season that normally contained around five episodes. Telltale Games was an American video game development studio that primarily published adventure games using an episodic format.