Screenshots show off Telltale Games' take on Batman

By Dan Isacsson Published June 12, 2016

Starting off E3 2016 with a small bang, Telltale Games has released the first set of images from Batman: The Telltale Series, which was first announced in December 2015. It’s the next story-focused game in the spirit of the studio’s other games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us.

Considering the studio’s tendency to embrace darker themes, it makes sense for Telltale Games to target the Dark Knight. Dead parents make for a pretty grim start, don’t they? And indeed, Telltale Games co-founder and CEO Kevin Bruner said in a press release that the ” … complex life and fractured psyche of Bruce Wayne has lent itself to becoming a bold evolution of the signature ‘Telltale’ role-playing experience … ” A bold evolution is a bold statement as the studio hasn’t done much to its story-telling mechanics in the games that have been released recently.

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“We’ve been hard at work at Telltale creating an all-new iteration of the iconic Batman story that puts players in the suit of billionaire Bruce Wayne, just as much as it will put them behind the mask, deciding how to carefully navigate a complex drama, rich with action, crime, corruption, and villainy lurking around every corner of Gotham City,” said Bruner. Most interestingly, the developers already have some experience in working around these subjects. The Wolf Among Us may feature fantastical creatures, but it’s a well-framed detective story rampant with all the “action, crime, corruption, and villainy” the developer could muster. In other words, there’s some merit to the idea that the studio could pull this off in a good way.

There’s a good cast to go with the game as well, including game celebrities like Troy Baker as Bruce Wayne (you may remember him as Joel from The Last of Us). There’s also Travis Wilingham, who’s an avid voice actor for games as well as anime. Then there’s Enn Reitel as Alfred Pennyworth, Murphy Guyer as Lieutenant James Gordon, Richard McGonagle as Carmine Falcone, and Laura Bailey as Selina Kyle.

Unfortunately, there’s still no word on when we can expect Telltale Games to come up with an original IP.

The game will be released episodically on consoles, PC/Mac, and mobile devices.

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With E3 2023 gone, other gaming events need to step up

Despite how inevitable the complete downfall of E3 felt over the past several years, E3 2023’s official cancellation still strings as it’s a significant loss for the game industry. For gamers, press, and developers, the show served multiple purposes that digital livestreams and scattered publisher-specific events don't currently replicate. In lieu of E3’s cancelation this year, and potentially forever, it’s time for other gaming events to step up and help push the video game industry forward.
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I’m lucky enough to have the experience of attending three E3 shows across 2017, 2018, and 2019 and many publisher-run events focused on specific games or tighter game lineups. In its final years, E3 felt like the perfect middle ground to the gamer-focused PAX and industry-focused GDC, where people from all walks and sides of the video game industry could come together, see what’s coming in the future, and share their love for games.

It also felt more freeing than publisher-run events, as I discovered and experienced games of all sizes that I may not have otherwise and got to meet many people from every angle of the game industry. Apparently, the Entertainment Software Association struggled to convince enough people that this style of expo was important four years after the last physical event.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Entertainment Software Association president Stanley Pierre-Louis blamed E3 2023’s cancellation on the Covid-19 pandemic, “economic headwinds” due to the current recession that impacted marketing budgets, and the fact that “companies are starting to experiment with how to find the right balance between in-person events and digital marketing opportunities.”
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What we lose
Events are a great way for indies to get unexpected and much-needed attention from players and the press; look at the chance encounter that got one of our team’s freelancers hooked on Homeseek at PAX East. Now, indies will have to hope to gain attention at those more indie-focused events like PAX or be cherry-picked to be featured in a more prominent company’s showcasing. There’s also the networking and pitch factor to it.

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https://twitter.com/E3/status/1641546610218811393
E3 was once a prominent annual video game industry trade show but has struggled to re-emerge since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. E3 did not take place in 2020 or 2022, and a digital-only attempt at the show in 2021 did not live up to expectations. The ESA was attempting to bring the show back this year with the help of PAX organizer ReedPop, and even approved press passes for the event already, but it appears the developers and publishers have lost faith in E3. Ubisoft pulled out of the show earlier this week after initially committing to be there, while Sega, Bandai Namco Entertainment, and Level Infinite confirmed they wouldn't be there in the following days.
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