Skybound Games, who picked up Telltale Games' The Walking Dead after the studio's abrupt closure earlier this year, says it is now actively working on Episodes 3 and 4 of the series' Final Season.
"After Telltale shut its doors, the game was, unfortunately, unable to be worked on and hence the release dates of Episodes 3 and 4 have been delayed," Skybound's Sally Jacka said in a blog post yesterday. "But, we’re excited to let you know that many of the talented, passionate team members who originally worked on the game are resuming development efforts today!" Former Telltale lead writer James Windeler confirmed the news on Twitter, adding that the original team is "back in the old office today to finish out Clementine's story."
Jacka said that release dates for Episodes 3 and 4 will be announced "soon." Skybound previously said it hopes to release Episode 3 this year, but it sounds like that's no longer plausible. Jacka added that players who already own Episodes 1 and 2 will be able to get future episodes from their original platform. And if you've already purchased through Episode 4, you will not have to buy them again, she said.
Additionally, while previous seasons of The Walking Dead "may be unavailable to purchase for a few days as we transition," they will return. However, this doesn't necessarily apply to Telltales' other series, which, as our sister site PC Gamer reported, are also disappearing from storefronts like Steam. The Final Season itself is also gone from Steam, with a free demo in its place.
Skybound CEO Ian Howe recently affirmed the studio's plan to "complete this story with the people who have brought it this far," and it sounds like they're doing just that. Development on The Walking Dead: The Final Season has resumed with the help of several former Telltale staffers, and while we may not have release dates for the remaining episodes, it's encouraging to know we'll eventually see the end of Clementine's story. Not only that, at least some of those affected by Telltale's closure - which left hundreds of developers without insurance or severance pay in one of the most expensive states in the US - are working again, hopefully under better circumstances.
Skybound Games struck a deal to finish The Walking Dead earlier this year with the help of studio founder and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.
