Telltale Games announced that their take on DC's popular superhero in Batman: The Telltale Series would be releasing this summer. They've also announced that they plan to get every episode out by the end of 2016, or at least that's what they're gunning for.
Gamespot picked up quotes from Job Stauffer, the creative communications manager for Telltale Games, who explained to GamesMaster Magazine that they want to have all five episodes out for Batman: The Telltale Series before the end of the year. They have not specified when the game would be launching within the summer time frame, nor have they detailed a release date for each of the episodes.
Getting all five episodes up and out over the course of six months caused panic and worry among some members of the gaming community. Questions arose about quality control and whether or not the series would be able to maintain solid writing and well paced direction. They're good concerns to have because gamers have certain expectations of Telltale and they don't want to see the company take a hit when it comes to quality.
Job Stauffer later clarified to GamesRadar via Twitter that the writing, storytelling and design of Batman: A Telltale Series would not be taking a hit, and that they still plan on getting each of the episodes out before the end of 2016 but episode 5 could slip into 2017 if need be, saying...
Certainly 'aiming to' have all 5 by 12/31. We develop live, so bear with us on Ep 5 in December. Regardless, you will play the majority of the series this year, if not all of it, after it premieres later this Summer[W]e're committed to a solid cadence of great content, but having the best content is priority. We'll work our hardest!
Literally the final episode on the final day of the year. It's going to be cutting it close, especially since the first episode for the new Batman series hasn't even landed on digital shelves yet for home consoles and PC.
Sometimes the delayed and scattered release of each episode gives gamers time to soak in the content and offer some feedback, which can sometimes help the developers tweak certain things for the upcoming episodes. In the case of something like Dontnod Entertainment's Life Is Strange, each episode actually managed to get better and better over the course of the year. It was like they had to find their stride and then really hit that home run out of the park.
In the case of Batman: A Telltale Series, there's that lingering doubt about whether or not piling each episode back to back could work well when it comes to quality control, but Telltale has proven that they were able to utilize this method with The Walking Dead: Michonne, where Gamespot notes that the developers were able to get each episode out one month after the next.
Also, based on the reports from those who managed to get a look at the upcoming Batman: The Telltale Series from behind closed doors at this year's E3, they're reporting that the game was pretty intense and focused a lot more on the conflict and drama in Bruce Wayne's life more than what most other adaptations of the character have done.
Within the next couple of months Telltale should be prepping to give gamers a solid release date on their vision of the Dark Knight, leading up to a monthly release of each episode before 2016 concludes.
