The saddening news of Telltale Games’ demise came late last week, shocking many in the industry. The studio, in the middle of an ongoing season of its The Walking Dead story, unexpectedly announced that it was laying off a majority of its staffers, leaving only a few as a skeleton crew to perform its “obligations to its board of directors and partners.”
As it turns out, Netflix is one of the said partners, for whom Telltale is working to finish an adaptation of Minecraft: Story Mode. But, there was another project the two companies were collaborating closely on – Stranger Things: The Game.
It was in June this year when news about a Stranger Things game first broke out. It certainly wasn’t the first game based on that IP, but it being a Telltale title was an interesting proposition. As expected, however, the skeleton crew won’t be working on the Stranger Things project, meaning that it is effectively cancelled.
Netflix is now in the process of looking for a new partner to continue the project, per a statement the company gave to Polygon:
We are saddened by news about Telltale Games. They developed many great games in the past and left an indelible mark in the industry. Minecraft: Story Mode is still moving forward as planned. We are in the process of evaluating other options for bringing the Stranger Things universe to life in an interactive medium.
It’s worth noting that while the Minecraft: Story Mode project is more akin to existing interactive stories on Netflix, the Stranger Things project was meant to be a full-fledged game developed by Telltale. In a statement Netflix provided to Neowin in June, the company made it clear that its role for the latter was limited to marketing and promotion.
As for when or if we will ultimately see the project come to fruition remains a mystery, but there are at least four seasons planned for the show, giving Netflix and whomever it picks to develop the game ample time.