Telltale is shifting to avoid crunch and accommodate an engine shift
The Wolf Among Us 2 is being delayed out of this year. Telltale Games confirms that the sequel will be moving into 2024, as the team makes an effort to both avoid crunch and move from Unreal Engine 4 to 5.
Speaking to IGN, Telltale Games CEO Jamie Ottilie attributes the choice to a number of reasons. Part of those is concerns over burnout: “I’ve done [crunch], and I don’t want to do it again, and it’s not fair to ask it,” Ottilie said.
“Making games is difficult and they need time to be right,” Ottilie told IGN. “And it doesn’t do any of us any good to ship something that’s not ready.”
The other concern is a shift from Unreal Engine 4 to 5. According to the CEO, many on the team feel its worth the extra work, but he does say it entails redoing “quite a bit of work” that was already finished.
Rather than crunch or ship an unfinished project, Telltale will work to finish The Wolf Among Us 2 on its new schedule. The new series is episodic, like its predecessor; but unlike the first Wolf Among Us, it’s being made all at once, so the whole run will be finished by the time Episode 1 rolls out.
A wolf in the wings
While that might be disappointing for those hoping for some investigative fantasy stories this year, it sounds like it could be a good thing for the team working on The Wolf Among Us 2. More breathing room and no looming crunch overhead will hopefully make bringing this legend back into the spotlight easier to do.
The resurrected Telltale is still rolling out games, though. The Expanse: A Telltale Series is due out this year, in collaboration with Deck Nine Games. And hey, with all that extra time, it’s a good excuse to brush up on the first Wolf Among Us if you haven’t yet. It’s pretty darn good.
