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Telltale has raised another round of funding for its story-based video games like The Wolf Among Us 2 and The Expanse.
The Series A money came from Hiro Capital and Skybound Entertainment. This funding will help Telltale bring its first new games to market, such as the highly anticipated The Expanse: A Telltale Series, scheduled for release this summer, and The Wolf Among Us 2. The funding amount has not been disclosed.
“We are honored to have the trust of Hiro Capital, a fund committed to the future of the games industry, and that of our colleagues at Skybound Entertainment,” Jamie Ottilie, CEO of Telltale, said in a statement. “It’s both a pleasure and a natural fit to be associated with companies that share our commitment to narrative games and transmedia entertainment.”
This investment pairs Telltale, a pioneer in the episodic narrative adventure genre, with renowned game industry pioneer Sir Ian Livingstone (CBE). Livingstone was knighted last year for his services to the online gaming industry and is best known as co-founder of the twenty million selling Fighting Fantasy series of narrative role-playing books and co-founder of two billion dollar game companies, Games Workshop and Eidos Interactive . Together with the Hiro Capital team, he has founded or supported more than $9 billion in leading games, sports and technology companies.
“The guiding principles of great storytelling and fun gameplay have always been at the heart of everything I’ve built or invested in over the past fifty years. I’m excited to support the new Telltale and their vision to build the next generation of narrative adventure games,” Livingstone said in a statement.
Telltale and Skybound Entertainment first teamed up in 2012 on the highly successful The Walking Dead series of episodic games based on the popular Skybound comic books. The Walking Dead episodes were released over the course of 6 years, with Skybound as the publisher since 2018.
“Telltale and Skybound have a long and incredibly successful history together that has forever changed the way stories are told in video games,” David Alpert, CEO of Skybound Entertainment, said in a statement. “It’s been just over 10 years, hundreds of millions of dollars and over 100 Game of the Year awards since Telltale released the critically acclaimed first title in The Walking Dead series. We continue to believe in the power of narrative gaming and with this investment we can support Telltale in telling more great stories.”
Relaunched in 2019, the new Telltale is focused on building a company that respects the works and reputation of the former company while striving to be more efficient, flexible and sustainable in today’s industrial environment and beyond. A strategic and integral part of that plan is partnering with the best teams, talents and IPs to bring great stories to life through distributed development.
An example of that plan in action is the collaboration with The Expanse: A Telltale Series. Deck Nine Games is leading development supported by the Telltale executive team to create a new story in the universe of The Expanse created by James SA Corey. Bringing together key talent, rich IPs, creative leadership, and a shared commitment to storytelling is the core of Telltale’s mission.
“Together with our outstanding partners at Deck Nine, we are excited to show our fans how we have honored the Telltale legacy and developed the episodic narrative genre for which the company is best known,” continued Ottilie. “These investments will help us realize that vision.”
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