Dan-Connors
Latest
Telltale names new CEO, original property in the works
Telltale Games announced co-founder Kevin Bruner as its new CEO, with former boss Dan Connors taking an advisory role after leading the company since 2004. Telltale also revealed it has "original IP (intellectual property)" in development, a marked change for a studio that built its name on licensing and adapting properties like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us. Telltale's official announcement discusses plans for growth in 2015, underscoring a period of transition for the adventure game studio. There are seasons of Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones to complete after their debut episodes, while Minecraft: Story Mode. The Walking Dead Season 3 and the new original IP are also somewhere in the pipeline.
The Walking Dead: Game of the Year Edition seeks whatever fresh brains are left
Having sold more than 21 million episodes, Telltale Games' phenomenal adaptation of Robert Kirkman's graphic novel The Walking Dead has inevitably been collected in a Game of the Year Edition. Available now for $30 on either Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC or Mac platforms, the Walking Dead: GOTY includes all five episodes released during Season One of The Walking Dead as well as the DLC episode 400 Days. Inside the package players will also find "access to behind-the-scenes content and the emotionally-charged score from our long-time friend and composer Jared Emerson-Johnson," according to Telltale CEO and co-founder Dan Connors. Those planning to buy the PC or Mac versions of The Walking Dead: GOTY should know that you can earn a 10-percent discount on the game by pre-purchasing Season Two of The Walking Dead. Today's announcement offers no new information on those upcoming episodes of the series, but we can rest assured that Telltale still plans to launch Season Two "later this year."
Clementine 'definitely a part of' The Walking Dead Season 2
Telltale Games CEO Dan Connors told San Diego Comic-Con panel attendees that The Walking Dead darling Clementine "will definitely be a part of" the game's second season. Likewise, the fate of another character, Kenny, "will be explored." Further details concerning Season 2 were not offered. The Walking Dead: 400 Days was released this month and served as a short bridge into the next season.
Telltale: The Walking Dead has sold 8.5 million episodes
Telltale's acclaimed episodic series The Walking Dead has sold over 8.5 million episodes, CEO Dan Connors told The Wall Street Journal. Connors said that about 25 percent of the sales come from iOS devices, and "at about $5 per episode, that's roughly more than $40 million in sales, not including any promotions."Of course, The Walking Dead has seen its share of promotions, and is even a part of this weekend's Steam Holiday Encore sale. With Telltale Games planning to expand in the coming months, these sales numbers could equate to a much bigger conference room.
Telltale: 'Pilot Program' allows for new ideas at less risk
Telltale recently introduced its "Pilot Program" for episodic games with the reveal of Puzzle Agent, claiming that some of its future franchises (starting with PA) will live or die by the initial episode's reception among players. And last last week, the company's CEO Dan Connors took to G4 to give more detail on the initiative's future, as well as its raison d'être. "The Pilot Program allows us to try some new ideas without having to [take as much risk] and learn more what people like about it before we commit to doing the whole thing." He said that committing to an entire season for a game is, in many cases, far riskier than creating a one-off pilot that may or may not succeed. Additionally, team sizes on the pilot episodes are much smaller, but can be scaled up depending on how the audience responds. "Right now, I think the Grickle [PA] team is probably about a third of the size of an average team to get this started," Connors said. According to him, 50 percent of the work for a series is done up front -- going into full-scale production on PA would require little adjustment for Telltale. That said, he seems more interested in spitballing ideas for additional pilot games in the meantime, saying that the studio is still "in the idea phase" for more pilots. We'll see just how well that first idea pans out when Puzzle Agent becomes available this June.
Telltale Games does 40% of its business on consoles
In a new interview with GI.biz, Telltale's Dan Connors gives away some stats that show why his company's expansion to consoles is important : Already, 40 percent of Telltale's sales are to console owners. Connors says that's because it's easier for Telltale to rise above the crowd in the downloadable space: "They have big audiences there," he says, "and they're all used to spending money on games. Compare that to online, where it gets noisy," and Telltale bumps into all of the other PC titles vying for downloads and sales in the browser. Connors also says that digital distribution allows his company to adjust their development to the final price. He's happy with what they've done so far, and says we can expect more experimentation in the future: "You can have a different ecosystem to stay profitable, play with price points more, and that's what you're going to continue to see."
Interview: Telltale's Dan Connors talks Sam & Max, episodic subscriptions, and iPad
While it already made its debut earlier this month on the iPad, this week marks the console debut of Sam & Max: Season 3, an occasion made more notable by Telltale's first-ever presale offer on consoles thanks to the flexibility of the PlayStation Network. We had a chance to talk with CEO and co-founder Dan Connors about the challenges of episodic gaming, the importance of pre-selling an entire season up front, their plans for the iPad, and what their most-requested adventure game project is. Read on! Joystiq: So, first off, how are PS3 pre-orders doing for Sam & Max? Dan Connors: They're doing well. We're excited that PSN was able to pull it off and make it happen. So far, we're pleased with what it's done to date, and tomorrow will be interesting as well. It will be the first time that we ever sold a season with a console partner. So we'll see how people respond to that, but judging from the pre-sales, we're off to a good start. This is the first time that a game has been available for pre-order on PlayStation Network. How did you guys go about implementing that with Sony? They were ready for it. They had a couple of things that they were talking about that were very similar. So, I think, it's the direction that they were pushing in and when we came in and said, "Hey, we're willing to try this and do this with you guys," they were open to it as a way to actually make it happen. So, the timing was great for both parties. I think, we're a good chunk of content for them to try this on and they've been working on the infrastructure to support it. So, it's a lot of teamwork. They're right down in Foster City so they're close to us and we were able to work together and iron through the different details of making it happen.
TV's Lost is most requested Telltale adventure game project
We've all got our own dream projects we'd like adventure game studio Telltale to make, heaven knows we've fanned those flames ourselves. But as for the most requested project, you need look no further than your nerdy friend's Tuesday night Twitter feed, according to company boss Dan Connors. "You know it's funny, because I have a survey with the actual requests on it, or the actual things that people that we surveyed said they would like to see," Connors told us in an interview you'll see in full soon. "If I can recall correctly I think Lost was number one. I think that Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was number two ... or maybe number three. And I know that Dexter was in there somewhere. And of course the LucasArts stuff was in there as well." Lost as adventure game makes perfect sense, especially since The Island is one of the few places where making a mustache out of cat hair, masking tape and syrup makes perfect sense.
Dan Connors answers 10 Questions from the Academy
And now, 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community. Dan Connors is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. He works for episodic gaming developer Telltale Games. AIAS: What's your favorite part of game development? Dan Connors: Between Alpha and Beta, because it is the time where you get a sense for what the game will be. It is also the time where the ability to iterate quickly pays off the most. What's the one problem of game development you wish you could instantly solve? Ego Inflation. It leads to situations where individuals become so invested in their specialty, or in being right on every individual point, that they lose sight of the greater need of the team and the product. Are games important? Games like all forms of entertainment communicate the myths and stories of our age to many people in our society, most of whom are in their formative years. So, like it or not, they are important. I also think as games continue to evolve they will be used for all kinds things like teaching social skills, training athletes and helping sick people. As a programmer once said to me in response to a feature request, "Anything's possible," of course he also said, "With enough time and budget." How do you measure success? Against the plan of course. This assumes a well thought out plan that is getting you towards the ultimate vision.
Macworld 2010: Telltale Games and their Mac revolution
Well, there you go. After consistent rumors that the whole catalog would be coming over to the Mac, Telltale Games announced at Macworld last week that that's exactly what was going to happen. Starting with the Tales of Monkey Island series (based on the Lucasarts games, where many Telltale developers formerly hung their hats), the company will co-release Mac and PC versions, giving customers versions for both platforms at the same time. Telltale is hosting a vote on its website right now as to the next game set to be released, but as we learned directly from co-founders Dan Connors and Kevin Bruner, eventually the whole platform, including Monkey Island, Sam and Max, Wallace and Gromit, and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, is coming over. And it's probably not long until the iPhone and the iPad follow suit. Kevin Bruner spoke with us on the livestream during the show, and Dan Connors sat down for a longer interview about Telltale's past, the decision to join the Mac gaming community, and what both founders think of Apple's newest platforms and the Mac community at large. Read on to see the full text of the interview.
Telltale hoping to push content to new consoles, handhelds & Macs
With more avenues now open between consumers and game creators than ever before, third-party companies like Telltale Games can sell their wares on every platform -- as long as their software runs on it. That's the tricky part, but Telltale CEO and co-founder Dan Connors has told Gamesindustry.biz that his team is already looking to take advantage of the "huge potential" out there."I definitely think there's huge potential there, and right now we're working on getting our content over to some more channels, over to new consoles and the Mac," Connors said. With any luck, PlayStation 3 will be caught in Telltale's wider net -- it's the only current home console that has yet to be visited by a talking dog, a hyper-kinetic rabbity thing ... or even a dog that doesn't talk but is still weirdly expressive.Telltale's ambitions go further still, added Connors. "And after that's done, we're going to be looking at handhelds. I think we have to consider the PSP Go for sure."
Telltale's next franchise announcements 'around October,' not necessarily comedies
Known for perfecting the episodic release, Telltale Games says it's stepping into "new genres." CEO Dan Connors told VG247 as much in a recent phone interview, and the idea for this move is coming from a somewhat expected place -- television shows like The Sopranos, Lost and True Blood. "We've already evolved the genre in a lot of ways ... but we believe there's a lot of head-room to make more dramatic advances in storytelling and drama inside of this genre [adventure games]." Considering the company's past work with franchises like CSI though, you could say this tale has already been told. (YEEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)Though Telltale will be at PAX alongside us and everyone we know, don't expect any announcements just yet. Connors says the soonest we'll be hearing about anything is "around October," so, ya know, get comfy.
Tales of Monkey Island is Telltale's 'strongest performing' title
Steam sales charts suggested that Telltale Games' relaunch of the Monkey Island franchise, Tales of Monkey Island, was doing well. Telltale's Dan Connors gave Videogamer an idea of just how well: "It was a great launch for us," he said. "We're really happy with it. I think it even exceeded our expectations." Connors didn't offer specific numbers, but he said that Tales of Monkey Island outperformed Telltale's other launches. "I would definitely say it's our strongest performing franchise to date," he said. "We're pretty excited. It was number one on Steam for a few days. It did really well. It's been our best performing title from our side as well." With the WiiWare version having launched just this Monday (and not having been mentioned by Connors), it's unlikely that it factors into Telltale's rejoicing. We're eager to find out how the console version's launch compares. %Gallery-64680%
Telltale not frightened by more competition
The tough thing about being the first to perfect something? Everyone else thinks they can step in and repeat what you did, only better. That's the position Telltale Games CEO Dan Connors finds himself in now. Connors says that he expects more companies to move into the episodic gaming field -- in fact, many have approached him about working on a deal.But before the beef has even started, Connors is squashing it, reminding all comers that Telltale runs the game: "I think there's still that point about people needing to understand what it is, and Telltale is always going to define its own kind of game." We know he was talking about literal games rather that the game of the streets, but we're just going to pretend.
Joystiq interview: Telltale's Dan Connors on XBLA, Wallace & Gromit
Following last week's announcement that purveryors of fine adventure gaming, Telltale Games, would be making its long-awaited Xbox Live Arcade debut with the upcoming Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, we spoke with Telltale's CEO and founder, Dan Connors to learn more about the move. We talk about the company's platform strategy (iPhone?), its success with the capacity-challenged WiiWare service, and plans to bring older Telltale games to newly supported platforms like XBLA. So grab some cheese and/or your favorite sociopathic lagomorph and strap in for an interview more outrageously exciting than a T-Rex flying a biplane through a no-fly zone!Joystiq: Xbox Live Arcade – why now? You guys have been around for a while and you've obviously done GameTap, you've done PC, you've done Wii and WiiWare. So why XBLA and why now?Dan Connors: Well, I think it's just kind of happened in the natural growth of the company. We started in 2004 and we were eight people in an office and we've progressively grown. Each time – when we first launched on the PC, it was a challenge; and when we first launched on WiiWare, it was a huge challenge; and now getting everything to the place where we're self-publishing on WiiWare and now Xbox Live Arcade, it's just a great accomplishment for the company and opening up more channels.%Gallery-39989%
Joystiq interview: Telltale's Dan Connors tells tales
Sam & Max: Season One was one of the first real success stories of digital distribution, where folks could download episodes of the game from month to month, and then after everything had been released, pick up a DVD copy of all the episodes with some extra content. Season Two launches on November 8th (tomorrow, kids!), putting Sam & Max right back into the fray.We sat down with Telltale Games founder and CEO Dan Connors during E For All to talk about all things Sam & Max, Bone, and what's coming up for the young studio. We started off by waxing poetic about E for All or E3 possibly moving to Vegas, so we could have done this over drinks and then hit the tables. We'd like to think Sam & Max would have been proud.
Digital distribution panel: Retail and downloads work together
Newsweek's N'Gai Croal hosted a GDC discussion about digital distribution, featuring panelists from Bioware, Valve, Microsoft, Telltale Games, and GameTap. The session interested us most for its comments on how retail and digital distribution work together and thoughts on the media's lack of digital-only games coverage.Valve's Jason Holtman said, "The myth of digital distribution cannibalizing retail sales isn't true. ... The first couple times we ran [free weekends for games], we found out they increased retail sales as well [as digital sales.]"Holtman later said, "We love selling our boxed products. We like selling our digital products, too. ... Retail is going to be here to stay. It's a great channel for games. Digital is also a great channel for games."Ray Muzka of Bioware said, "They're incredibly complimentary. ... You can get research, you can get data from your digital distribution to make better games."Dan Connors of Telltale Games described how his company's games benefit from initial digital distribution. He said, "By the time it gets to retail, it's a known quantity. ... It was thought of from the ground up that we're going to launch online and [move to retail.] ... I think we've managed to take revenues from a range of places."Near the end of the session, Croal asked if he and other journalists had covered digital distribution enough. Rick Sanchez of GameTap vehemently said that the press hadn't and that they don't know how to treat his game-download service. The other panelists thought their projects were getting enough coverage, although they echoed the slow recognition of their digital projects.Other than Microsoft's Xbox Live games, GameTap represented the only company with a digital-only distribution method. Could that affect GameTap's recognition, because the public -- and journalists -- still need a boxed copy to take notice?
Joystiq interviews Dan Connors and Emily Morganti of Telltale
We recently spoke with Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale Games, and Emily Morganti, Web Marketing Coordinator for the company. Both were excited about the October 17 release of Sam & Max: Culture Shock, the first episode of the multi-part series. Sam & Max will be part of GameTap's $10 monthly subscription service on its launch, and it will be available as a stand-alone game from Telltale in November.Connors -- who got his start at LucasArts during its adventure game heyday -- and Morganti spoke about what the episodic trend means to creators, how Sam & Max will entice gamers and non-gamers, and how characters' thong size matters less with digital distribution. (We'll guess that Max is a 3.)
Sam and Max scope out the DS
It seems like just yesterday (or last week) that Telltale Games was begging for help in getting Nintendo to notice them, and now IGN is interviewing CEO Dan Connors about the possibility of bringing versions of their point-and-click adventure, Sam & Max, to both the DS and the Wii. How time flies!For those unfamiliar with the dynamic duo, Sam and Max, an anthropomorphic dog and his "hyperactive rabbit thing" partner, first debuted in a comic book by Steve Purcell back in 1987. The pair are self-styled "freelance police" (see: private dicks) and have made cameo appearances in several LucasArts games while their creator was working there. They've also starred in their own games and television shows, as well as other comics. Recently, Telltale Games has been panting for notice by Nintendo, but did they bite off more than they can chew?In discussing the possibility of a DS title, Connors expressed some apprehension. They love the DS at Telltale, he says (and we commend their impeccable taste), but for a small company, a project of that scope is somewhat daunting. The Wii would be easier to adapt for their style, Connors said, if only because it needs only one screen and DS games work best when they take full advantage of the handheld's capabilities. While we admire the sentiment, we hope they can grow with new support from Nintendo and manage to bring a new title to the DS.
