The Walking Dead episodic game will be 'multiplatform,' expected Q4 2011

by Christopher Grant on Feb 18th 2011 11:45AM

As rumored, and confirmed yesterday, Telltale Games is adapting Robert Kirkman's zompocaplytic comic series – and now AMC television series – The Walking Dead into an episodic video game series. That's a lot of series.

The first details are trickling out of last night's Telltale event in San Francisco, and here's what we know about TWD so far: It's "definitely episodic," Kirkman says; it will be a "multi-year, multiplatform, multi-title" partnership; and Telltale is aiming for a Q4 2011 release, so you should be seeing something this year. As for what platforms they're targeting, IGN reports that the agreement covers "PC, Mac, consoles, handhelds, mobile and social gaming media." So pretty much everything.

Source: IGN

Tags: iPad, mac, microsoft, mobile, pc, release-date, telltale-games, the-walking-dead, xbox

Reader Comments (38)

Wow, you'd think Telltale Games would be stretched thin with all the licenses they're snapping up and developing for...

As for THE WALKING DEAD, does anyone know(or has any mention been made)about whether they're going with the TV series' storyline or the one from the graphic novels?

Keep saturating that market with zombies. It keeps the sparkly vampires away.

@foxhound

I was going to say the same.

All of their games are based on licensed, and it seems like every couple of days they announce a new IP they've acquired for a five-episode series.

Back to the Future has just had its second episode released (and still has yet to be ported to the PS3), yet Telltale is showing off trailers for it's five-episode Jurassic Park franchise...

...and announcing two other franchises, one of which has been confirmed to be released on "every platform ever."

How many people work at Telltale? How can they manage so many concurrent projects and ports without caving in on themselves? Are they outsourcing?

In the end, I suppose it doesn't matter. I'm a die-hard point-and-click adventure fan who, a decade ago, mourned the death of the genre. I just hope this massive surge of productivity doesn't ultimately mar the quality I've come to expect from Telltale.

@foxhound

I think this shows that you don´t need a huuuuge team to develope a AAA title, I always believe that sometimes companies have too many people working on a single title sometimes for more than 4 years, UBI soft is one of those companies, and in many cases the final product is not THAT good. Then on the other hand you have a small company like tell tales which always delivers quality products with a not so big staff and in a short period of time, maybe the big companies should start seeing this as an example.....
On the other hand i don´t know how good a zombie graphic adventure is going to work out..... i believe in tell tales but in this case and Jurassic park i don´t really know what to expect......

@foxhound jessica chobot on the daily fix said it would not be based off the tv series.

Is there ANY Telltale came that isn't episodic. They should mean the same thing by now...

I wonder how this is going to turn out. I don't think I've seen a point-and-click zombie adventure game before. Looking forward to this.

@Raiki

I'm looking forward to it too, but do we know it'll be point and click? It could be like Jurassic Park.

"Multi-year"....holy poo....

Hey Telltale, give me a shout and we can link your bank account directly to mine just out of ease.
I would also like an episodic game about making episodic games... Pretty much a tell tale game dev story.

I like it except for the response to what platforms they're targeting. EVERYTHING is not targeting. I'm always wary when a developer tries to create multiple game types for various platforms at the same time with a likely same (or near) release date.

While a lot of people don't like the word "porting" the concept makes a lot of sense. Focus on doing something great over here and, if it works like we hope, we'll bring it over there next.

Ah well, here's to hoping...

@Truant Damn Tt games for being ambitious >:3

They better be using the story from the comic. As much as I am enjoying the TV show it doesn't hold a candle to the excellent pacing, writing, and twists of the comic. The woman playing Carol in the show doesn't look like Carol and Shane needs to die!

@totalysharly

Maybe the story will take its own path sort of like the TV show did. Maybe it will be completely unrelated.

@totalysharly IGN had an interview with Robert Kirkman about the show in which he said part of the reason they killed off Shane so early in the comic was that they didn't realize that the comic would last so long. He basically said that they kept him alive on the show to explore the love triangle, and if he had known how much of a success the comic would be he would probably have kept Shane alive longer in the comic. So I think we'll be seeing plenty more of Shane :P

@bluem00se Borders is having a door closing sale...I almost picked up all 6 volumes of The Walking Dead...haven't read it yet...if it's still there later this week (when the discount goes up) I'll buy.

"will be multiplatform"

Except for Wii because, you know, it's not a platform.
/s

@GennosukeSama
...hey, the Wii *is* a platform! It's totally doing an amazing job of upholding dust atop it as we speak! Iwata, you genius!

@foxhound

Oh look another dust joke! Yet when I, or someone else, says something about the PS3 or Xbox 360 it's all "f*%#k you @$$hole stop being a fanboy!!" am I right?

@foxhound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji-cT58rgNc

@GennosukeSama

Hey, my PS3 has dust...but only because it's the fat shinny one and my maid took the decade off.

@GennosukeSama
It's all in moderation, comrade. :]
ha ha, a little sarcasm now and then is good. . . But if it's outright trolling and bashing, then brace for the onslaught from other users.

My favorite is the classic rebuttal / excuse... "I have all three consoles, so I'm not a fanboy of any of them"

If it looks anything like what we saw in the Jurassic Park trailer... I may pass. It can't look like Tales of Monkey Island with a new paint job.

It's kind of insulting to the tone set by The Walking Dead material.

Is there a larger version of that picture somewhere? I really like it. O.O

Also, I really, reaaaaaaaally hope all this doesn't distract Kirkman from the comic. It's nice to see it getting attention, but I don't want that to be the death of a great series. =\

@eimajtl

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/115/1150836/tba-the-walking-dead-the-game-20110217030411807.jpg

@eimajtl

actually heres one w/o the ign watermark

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5254/5454817418_f9a05e783b_b.jpg

@U U D D L R L R B A SELECT START

Thanks!

It'll make a great desktop. @_@

Man I REALLY hope the Walking Dead game is good.
Although I'm really not crazy about the concept of delayed release episodic games.

This mature direction that Telltale is taking is both perplexing and intriguing. Don't get me wrong though, I did love their older family friendly games. Particularly the Strong Bad games. And Poker Night at the Inventory is genius.

i dont know but episodic game tends to be a bad idea...

it make fans wait, less gameplay and content and in the end its a more expensive and not worthy experience.

just look sonic4, half life as few example of what to expect...

@eilegz
Or look at the developer's past history of success with episodic gaming. >_>

@eilegz Are you familiar with any of the other stuff Telltale has done? Like, ever?

Since it's telltale is it some sort of point and click? That is mostly what I have seen from them. And the fact I don't see Walking Dead as an action game.

Telltale hasn't done me wrong yet. Can't wait for this. Love the graphic novels and the first season of the show was pretty damn good.

Dead Island and Walking Dead in the same quarter? There'll be a Zombie-fest going on soon.

Huh, it might be interesting if they use a B&W style in the art direction.
Also, if they had a load/save screen and made it look like a comic book page where each panel is a single frame of a cutscene that also serves as a checkpoint.
So as you progress through the chapters, you unlock another panel, which you can replay later for whatever reason (trophies, etc.)
Almost like what Heavy Rain does except laid out in a comic book format.
And, since it will likely be point&click, a time limit on some puzzles (not all, of course).
Hence the checkpoint system.

I'll buy it anyway just because it's The Walking Dead.

Everyone knows Tell Tale Games always end up being the best on pc! :]

I did try out Sam & Max on the 360 and that was decent. But I prefer pc :] .

Can't wait!

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The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead episodic game will be 'multiplatform,' expected Q4 2011

Reader Comments (38)

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 11:47AM foxhound said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 12:03PM Urethra Alfredo said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 1:14PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Feb 19th 2011 7:43AM NYJmatt said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 11:54AM TheShaper said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 11:56AM Raiki said

Posted: Feb 19th 2011 7:43PM VanillaNowah said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 11:57AM TheHungryPanda said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 11:59AM matthugh said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 12:09PM Truant said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 12:27PM JnRx said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 12:32PM totalysharly said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 12:41PM Dismissile said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 6:06PM bluem00se said

Posted: Feb 20th 2011 11:25PM MDizzy said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 1:14PM GennosukeSama said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 1:21PM foxhound said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 1:28PM GennosukeSama said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 1:29PM Urethra Alfredo said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 2:12PM Duc748s said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 3:04PM foxhound said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 1:29PM Guhungus said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 2:54PM eimajtl said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 3:30PM U U D D L R L R B A SELECT START said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 3:33PM U U D D L R L R B A SELECT START said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 3:33PM U U D D L R L R B A SELECT START said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 5:07PM eimajtl said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 3:20PM Dizazter said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 5:11PM Integral said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 6:50PM eilegz said

Posted: Feb 19th 2011 2:29AM Epsilon said

Posted: Feb 22nd 2011 9:55AM Teletheus said

Posted: Feb 18th 2011 7:02PM DarkNightRJ said

Posted: Feb 19th 2011 4:19AM Starkey Love said

Posted: Feb 19th 2011 5:54PM Toyzer said

Posted: Feb 20th 2011 10:19AM zer0surge said

Posted: Feb 20th 2011 1:41PM Accessgranted said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:33PM Rick Grimes said

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