Reported $40 million dollar deal will also see Telltale create its first original IP in nearly a decade.
Telltale Games (The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The Wolf Among Us) has long been lauded as one of the best developers around when it comes to creating games with compelling stories and deep narrative. Hollywood has finally taken notice of the studio’s trend, as Lionsgate (Orange is the New Black, The Hunger Games franchise) is teaming up with Telltale — reportedly to the tune of $40 million.
The partnership, according to EW, will see the duo produce a new genre of game, called a “Super Show.”
“A ‘Super Show’ episode combines one part of interactive playable content with one part of scripted television style content,” said Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner. “Both pieces, when combined together, are what make an actual Super Show ‘episode.’ As we’ve been developing the series, we’re using both mediums in concert to deliver our story.”
From the sound of it, this new Super Show formula is similar to the episodic format used by Telltale in its past titles, but with live-action scenes spliced in at appropriate moments. Bruner stresses that both components are “…first class citizens during the writing and design process.” The Super Show format will still rely on an season-based episodic release schedule.
The first project under the Lionsgate partnership will be an original IP, but the Super Show format will be used on licensed IP down the road as well. (How cool would it be to see a Telltale season of The Walking Dead in such a format? Or Tales from the Borderlands?) But Bruner said Telltale’s current episodic “interactive drama” format won’t be going away, either.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
