Variety has some quotes from Telltale games discussing the recent news that they've laid off most of their staff and are apparently on the verge of shutting down. Word is things fell apart when a partner, rumored to be Lionsgate, backed out of a deal. "The company was working diligently to close a round of financing," Telltale co-founder Dan Connors tells them. "Unfortunately, when the last potential financial backer abruptly pulled out, we were left in a position where we had no choice but to stop production. Sadly, everyone was so focused on doing what was required to keep the company going that when the last potential partner backed out, there were no other options." There was speculation that their remaining skeleton staff would complete their The Walking Dead game, but this clarifies this team is bringing Telltale's existing Minecraft game to Netflix. As for The Walking Dead: The Final Season, Telltale tweets that they have received offers from potential partners to help complete the final two episodes. This inspired some vocal backlash, as Eurogamer relates some community tweets unhappy with the idea that the developers are such an easily replaced commodity, and galled that resources would go into further development after the team was laid off without severance. Here's an example from former Telltale narrative designer Emily Grace Buck: "Now, when we’ve all lost our jobs, and Telltale is thinking of finishing projects without us, after not giving us severance... I realize they made fans believe it too. That Telltale was what was quality, not the devs actually making the games." Here's Telltale's tweet, which is an image, a telltale sign of bad news:

Hi everyone, we have a Walking Dead update for you. Multiple potential partners have stepped forward to see The Final Season through to completion. While we can't make any promises today, we are actively working towards a solution that will allow episodes 3 and 4 to be completed and released in some form. In the meantime, episode 2 will release tomorrow across all platforms as planned. We hope to have answers for your other questions soon.