Restructuring
According to both named and anonymous Telltale staff speaking to USgamer, The Verge, and Variety, Telltale had internal problems that started from about 2014 and into 2017. These staff members said that decisions set by management resulted in the development team being kept in a perpetual state of "crunch time"; this limited the amount of time that the creators and developers could spend on content in order to maintain a consistent flow of episodes to consumers but which impacted the quality of games.[18][28] This particularly affected the Telltale Tool, the game engine used by the company since The Walking Dead, which ended up as numerous bugs in released episodes that Telltale became infamously noted for.[18] The company was also hobbled by working with established IP, and inconsistencies in the reviewing process with management that led to last-minute reworking of some episodes.[18] The Verge also found some of the employees they spoke to had stated that top-level executives, including Bruner, had become fixated on the format that The Walking Dead presented, making decisions that prevented developers from looking at alternative formats or variations from this formula, stifling creativity and leading to some of staff departures prior to 2017 departures.[28][27]
On March 15, 2017, Bruner announced he had stepped down as CEO of Telltale,[29] though Variety reported that he had been voted out of this position by the Board of directors.[27] Bruner turned the day-to-day operations to Conners, while still remaining on the Board of Directors. Bruner said "The time has come to pass the reins to someone that can better drive Telltale to the next level and realize all the potential that is here."[29] Pete Hawley, the former VP for Games at Zynga, was announced as the new CEO, with Conners remaining on its Board and acting in an advisory role.[30] Rather than other corporate "fixers" who take control of a company for a temporary period to help it regain its financial footing, Hawley had committed to staying with Telltale after helping the company to get past these problems.[27] Bruner filed a lawsuit against Telltale in relation to his departure in June 2018, citing financial damages as he had been seemingly removed from the Board of Directors, and thus could not gain information related to Telltale's financial status in anticipation of selling off a portion of his shares in the company. Telltale stated the claims were "meritless".[31]
In November 2017, a restructuring of the company cut about 90 positions, about a quarter of their staff, which was not expected to affect the release of any existing projects. Hawley said that the restructuring was for "reorienting our organization with a focus on delivering fewer, better games with a smaller team".[32][33] While Telltale had not stated which positions were let go in the restructuring, sources speaking to USgamer stated that most were part of the management structure that led to these problems; coupled with Hawley's appointment as CEO, this was expected to be a turning point to help revitalize Telltale.[18][27] In its response to Bruner's lawsuit from June 2018, Telltale stated that the company "is now working to turn around the decline that it experienced under [Bruner]’s stewardship".[31]
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