Interview: Ex Telltale Worker Discusses Closure and New Project

Nick Bounty And The “Dame With The Blue Chewed Shoe”

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last month, you will have undoubtedly come across the news that TellTale Games, the studio behind releases such as The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us, had decided to shut down. It was sad, shocking and of course completely out of the blue. Particularly for those who actually worked for the company.

Fortunately, a deal was able to be reached with Skybound Entertainment to ensure that the final season of their Walking Dead game would be completed, but this would effectively be the last game from the studio.

Speaking with a former employee, we have been given a better insight into the end of days at TellTale Games. In addition, and, on a much brighter note, he also speaks about an indie-game he currently has in development.

Mark Darin

Mark Darin, the creator of the new Nick Bounty game, worked at Telltale Games for around 14 years. He joined the team around a year after their formation. His work for the company included games such as;

• • CSI: Hard Evidence
  • Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space
  • Tales of Monkey Island
  • Jurassic Park: The Game
  • The Walking Dead – This includes the original series, 400 days and season 2.
  • The Wolf Among Us
  • Tales from the Borderlands
  • Minecraft: Story Mode
  • Batman: The Telltale Series

As such, he’s clearly well experienced and provides a more than a steady hand for his new indie project. So, what does he have to say about his new game and his Telltale experience? Let’s find out!

Interview

Having kindly agreed to answer some of our questions surrounding the game and, of course, the closure of TellTale Games, we have copied extracts in below. In addition, please keep reading as to how you can help him with his new project!

What Is Nick Bounty And The “Dame With The Blue Chewed Shoe” About?

Mark Darin – Nick Bounty and the Dame with the Blue Chewed Shoe is a comedic spoof on classic film noir detective movies as well as a narrative driven adventure game inspired the classic adventure games of Lucas Art and Telltale games. It’s a little bit Maltese Falcon, a little bit CSI, and a little bit Naked Gun. The story follows detective Nick Bounty and his quest to be taken seriously as a real detective. As the case unfolds, he becomes entangled in an absurd mystery that threatens to end his life… and his newly hired partner’s too!

The Dame with the Blue Chewed Shoe is the third game to feature Nick Bounty as the down-on-his-luck detective, but you don’t need to have played either of the first two games to enjoy this one.  Each game is a stand-alone story to be enjoyed on its own. The game has a projected release date of Dec 2019

What Were The Circumstances Behind The TellTale Games Shutdown?

Mark Darin – Yep.  Only 25 people were kept on and they were mostly just people needed to properly shut the company down.  The rest of us were just let go without warning or severance pay. It was a day filled with shock, sadness and anger. Basically, the employees received an email at about 10:30 am saying there was a mandatory company meeting at 11:00 am.  We showed up, our current CEO, grabbed a chair, sat down, and said to everyone that Telltale was closing it’s doors effective imediatlely.

After Taking Over Did Skybound Really Offer Any Former Employees A Job?

Mark Darin – Yes. Many of the key players needed to finish out the rest of the season were offered work. I don’t know the details or how temporary the work is though, and I am not one of the people asked to return as my role on the project was already mostly complete.

Kickstarter!

With the game currently doing very well in its Kickstarter campaign, Mark has stressed that any and all support he can get will help him immeasurably. In addition, with the Kickstarter still active, there is more than enough time for you to get onboard! Time is closing in, however, so you’ll have to act fast!

If you are interested in the game, you can check out the links below;

For the Kickstarter Page Click the link here! – Early backers of the project can get a copy of the game and, in addition, they can also get their name in the credits. All for just $10!

For the Facebook Page Click the link here!

For the Official Website Click the link here!

May we express our gratitude to Mark Darin for taking the time to speak to us about his experiences with TellTales Games and, of course, his new project! We wish him every success for this and any other projects in the future!