Back To Life: The Resurrection of Telltale Games?

Don’t call it a comeback… the return of the Telltale Games studio to the video game industry has more in common with a resurrection, as this company was completely dead in the waters five years ago. After years of churning out their very unique and specific style of dialogue-driven, narrative-focused games, Telltale Games appeared to have breathed its’ last gasp back in 2018… after completely running out of financing options, the company shut down and all of their employees were separated without any notice. A combination of poor management, a failure to update their archaic game engine, and their frenetic, self-inflicted release schedule created the worst possible outcome for any developer… studio closure. As the former team members of the Telltale Games studio shared their painful stories of being over-worked, under-paid, and unheard when trying to share ideas that could save the company from bankruptcy, we all believed that we had heard from Telltale for the final time. While much of the content produced from this studio was not product we personally played or found consistent with our own personal interests/beliefs, it is still a sad day in the world of gaming when any studio closes their doors and employees lose their jobs. We even shared our own video lamenting their tragic and unnecessary fall (linked below)… and yet, against all odds, Telltale has returned from the grave. Well… sort of.

With all of this in mind, you can only imagine my surprise when I saw a new trailer for an upcoming game release showcasing the iconic “Telltale Games” logo in the corner… for a moment I thought maybe this was an old clip or perhaps an error by the editing team. How is this possible? Telltale Games was GONE… and yet here they are, against all odds, releasing a new game five years later? But the reemergence of the “Telltale Games” studio is not the story of a “mighty phoenix rising from the ashes”… rather, it is a full rebirth in the hands of an entirely different company, LCG Entertainment. LCG purchased a handful of assets from what was available after the full dissolution of the company formerly known as Telltale Games, including their back library of content as well as the actual name, “Telltale Games”. LCG even hired many of the prior staff members (but NOT the management team) from the original studio to start over again under entirely new leadership, and the first of what will likely be many titles from this brand new studio with a familiar name released in July of 2023… and if they are willing to heed the lessons learned from their original downfall, this may mark the triumphant rebirth of Telltale and their unique style of “adventure games”. To the casual observer, it may look like Telltale Games “returned from the dead” or somehow willed themselves back to life… but the reality is that there is an entirely different company operating this studio than the one that previously existed. And that is a GOOD thing, because now they have a second chance to do this the RIGHT way. 

While there were many problems inherent with the original incarnation of Telltale Games, there were also viable assets hidden underneath the surface that had potential in the right hands. The management was terrible, the choices being made were not sustainable, and the company was running in a perpetual state of near bankruptcy all the way until their final day when the doors closed for good. But buried beneath all of this was untapped potential in both the incredible licenses they had access to as well as the internal skills that were being misapplied in all the wrong directions. And in the hands of an entirely different leadership structure, there is a possibility that these capabilities and resources could actually be used to create something that will stand the test of time. And when we look inside ourselves, a very similar reality unfolds… each of us were carefully designed by our Creator to serve a specific purpose on this planet and given the exact set of gifts and skills that we need in order to accomplish these objectives. But too often we attempt to run our lives in a similar state of “near bankruptcy”, allowing our flashes of success to blind us to the reality that we are heading towards a cliff. As a case in point, let’s take a look back at the tragic life and unnecessary fall of Samson, one of the most physically gifted humans ever recorded who could lift almost any weight… but collapsed underneath his failure to recognize how bankrupt he truly was.

On paper Samson had it all… he was a literal answer to prayer designed to deliver his people from the cruel and oppressive rule of the Philistines (Judges 13:5). He was gifted from the womb with a unique calling and given unmatched physical strength (Judges 14:6, Judges 15:15, Judges 16:3). And of greater personal interest to me, he clearly had a massively impressive head of thick, lustrous hair (Judges 16:17)… and if you have been the recipient of the same “male pattern baldness” gift that I have, then you would probably trade all of those other gifts for this one, too. If you know, you know…

But for all of the tremendous gifts (and remarkable hair) that had been given to Samson to serve his people, Samson had a moral bankruptcy issue that revealed itself over and over through his self-serving decisions and complete disregard for the calling he had been given. Samson had all the gifts that he needed to serve his people, but they were used in a manner inconsistent with his ministry… and while he ultimately served his purpose to deal a massive defeat to the Philistines, it came at the heaviest of costs.

Judges 16:16-21 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

Judges 16:25-30 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

While I can’t relate to Samson’s unique gifting, physical strength, or his incredible hair, I can unfortunately relate to his mismanagement of his blessings all too well. I have a feeling that most of us have made similar mistakes, walking in a perpetual state of partial, compromised, minimal victory in our lives instead of the full freedom that is only available to those who continue to walk in full acknowledgement of our utterly bankrupt state. In my sinful life prior to submitting to Christ, it was easy for me to see how completely worthless my behaviors and motives were. There was absolutely nothing in me that I was remotely proud of, and my need of a Savior could not have been more evident. But over time, I started to forget that I was made whole by His grace alone… I began to grow casual in my walk with the Lord, falling into a fatal pattern of going through the motions and failing to recognize that while His gifts that He had given me were still actively in place, He was becoming less and less present. Like Samson, I was slowly taking the Lord for granted because of my familiarity with Him… and in Samson’s case that slow closing of his eyes eventually turned into a state of terminal blindness. Both Samson and Telltale Games were internally bankrupt but externally productive… and this concealed their fatally flawed approach until they reached the end of the line. And in their dual cautionary tales, there is a critical warning as well as valuable reminder for all of us if we will take our own personal blinders off and take a deep look in the mirror… while we still can.

Like Samson, we have all been given gifts and resources that can be used to accomplish incredible things on this planet… unique ministries that were designed to be used in a very specific manner to bring glory to the Lord through our obedient service to Him and His mission for us (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). But similar to the rise, fall, and rebirth of Telltale Games, it is only when we are willing to accept how bankrupt we truly are (Romans 3:23)and submit these capabilities to be used in the precise way that they were intended will we be able to deliver the experience and enjoy the victories we were crafted to generate (James 4:7-10). For years, Telltale trudged on in spite of all of the warning signs that they were on the verge of collapse, and those on the outside of the company had no idea that their failure was imminent because their visual output remained consistent. Like Samson, they celebrated hollow victories while failing to recognize that they had been running on borrowed time. There simply wasn’t a way forward for them in spite of the assets they possessed… but in the right hands, these skills and capabilities COULD be re-purposed under new leadership. And while I can unfortunately relate to these experiences all too well, we can ALSO find the redemptive path for even a prodigal such as myself in their stories.

We were not designed to do any part of this life on our own(John 15:4-8)… even the most gifted of us will find out the hard way that proceeding in our own strength will only find us trapped in a prison of our own making. Samson was given the power, authority, and ability to accomplish his mission, but he ALSO had to demonstrate the discipline to walk in obedience to his calling to share in the victory he was destined to deliver. Telltale Games has been given a new lease on life in an entirely new form, but this “new studio” operating under their original name will only be successful with this second chance if they learn from the mistakes of their predecessor and make different choices. And similarly, our rebirth in Christ gives us access to the power to stand tall in temptation and defeat our enemies (Ephesians 6:11, Philippians 4:13) but it doesn’t give us automatic success unless we choose to walk in faith and obedience with this new freedom and power we have been given (James 2:20-24). And through any victory we enjoy, must remain humble in the knowledge that we were GIVEN everything we possess (Ephesians 2:8-10)… or we run the risk of forgetting how close to the razor’s edge we’re all walking along on a daily basis if it wasn’t for the grace by which we stand.

We are as close to Christ as we choose to walk and as free in Christ as we choose to remain… Jesus will absolutely break every chain we submit to Him (Galatians 5:1, John 8:36), but even the strongest man alive found himself bound when he treated his priceless gift as a “common thing” and demonstrated a reckless carelessness with the calling he had been given. Let’s make today a day of reminding ourselves that while the Lord’s gift of grace is absolutely free, that doesn’t mean it came to us without a cost or a responsibility upon receipt. Our resurrection from dead works and a life lived in selfish pursuits comes with an expectation of living our lives as a new creation (Hebrews 6:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17)… and while we may still carry our “old name”, we no longer carry our old shame. Let’s walk in obedience in the newness of life He purchased for us and remind ourselves of the incomparable value of His continued interest in our previously bankrupt lives. We all still have a “tale to tell”… and we make the choice of whether it is a cautionary tale or a victorious one. Let’s cherish the opportunity to tell a new chapter in our story today… each new day we receive down here is a fresh lease on life that we cannot take for granted, and each moment in His presence is an unearned gift beyond our comprehension. Let’s make it count.

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