One of the most noteworthy video game studio closures over the past decade was the closure of Telltale Games, the studio behind major adventure games such asThe Walking Dead,The Wolf Among Us, andBatman: The Telltale Series. When the studio shut down in October 2018, some of its major titles such asMinecraft: Story Modewere delisted from digital storefronts including Steam, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network.
One of the more niche titles to be removed wasTales of Monkey Island, one of the studio’s first episodic titles. The game was created by some ex-LucasArts developers who helped co-found Telltale Games after the studio moved away from developing point-and-click adventure games. The game was released in five episodes throughout 2009 and then later ported to consoles such as the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii in 2010.
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The game was delisted from all digital storefronts in November 2018, likely due to Telltale’s closure and an inability to renew the rights with Disney, which acquired theMonkey Islandfranchise after purchasing LucasFilm in 2013. Today, the game has returned to Steam and GoG, thanks to publisher Athlon Games and developer LCG Entertainment, the latter of which acquired parts of Telltale’s back-catalog and isresponsible for revivingThe Wolf Among Us 2, which was announced at the 2019 Game Awards.
Despite this, several Telltale Games titles such asTales From the BorderlandsandMinecraft: Story Moderemain delisted. It is currently unclear if LCG Entertainment and Athlon Gamesintend on reviving them, which would likely involve signing new contracts with 2K Games and Microsoft, as they own theBorderlandsandMinecraftIP, respectively.
Currently, the game is listed on Steam and GoG as a bundle featuring all five episodes at a discounted price of $10, down from $20. While it is exciting to seeTales of Monkey Islandreturn to digital storefronts, its release, along with remasters such asGrim Fandango Remastered,Day of the Tentacle RemasteredandFull Throttle Remastered, could imply that Disney has plans on capitalizing on the success of LucasArt’s classic adventure games in the future.
Furthermore, the company also brought titles such asThe Curse of Monkey Island,Sam & Max: Hit the RoadandIndiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tombto Steam in late 2018, running on the ScummVM emulator.
