14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Telltale Games is announcing that it has accepted a major investment from movie studio and content creator Lionsgate and that the two companies will work on bringing movie and television intellectual property into the video game space.
Jon Feltheimer, the leader of the movie company, is joining the board of directors, and so is John Riccitiello, the former chief executive officer of Electronic Arts who is currently occupying the same position at Unity Technologies.
The CEO of Telltale Games, Kevin Brunne, believes that the partnership with Lionsgate will mean that episodic television series based on games might become a reality in the coming years, although no official plans for one have been announced so far.
Jon Feltheimer adds, "Their leadership in narrative-driven episodic games, together with our investment and the potential opportunities created by our premium content expertise, will continue to strengthen their ability to offer exciting new avenues of storytelling to their next generation audiences across a broad range of platforms."
The appointment of Riccitiello brings experience in game development and the former EA CEO is also mentioning that the future of the company will mix video games, movies and TV shows.
Lionsgate is at the moment behind a raft of popular series including Mad Men, Weeds, Orange Is the New Black, and the company is also helming the movie adaptations of The Hunger Games.
The short-term future of Telltale is linked to ongoing series
Telltale Games might have ambitious cross-platform long-term plans which might revolutionize entertainment, but for the moment the company is focusing on the games it has already launched or announced.
Its biggest hits are still The Walking Dead, which will probably get a third season this year, and The Wolf Among Us, which is based on the Fables comic book universe.
The studio is also working on a series based on Game of Thrones, which is currently in its first season, and on another one linked to Borderlands.
In 2015, gamers should also get access to another episodic experience linked to Minecraft.
Telltale Games is also working on an entirely original universe, but it's currently unclear when it will officially reveal it, although it might require some more development time, given that the CEO says it is the most ambitious project the company has undertaken in the past few years.