What you need to know
- The Wolf Among Us 2 is an upcoming narrative adventure game being developed by Telltale Games.
- Originally slated for 2023, The Wolf Among Us 2 is being delayed to 2024.
- The developers indicate that this is to keep from having to crunch, while also switching the game from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5.
If you were looking forward to the continued adventures of Snow White and Bigby Wolf, you'll be waiting a bit longer.
Telltale Games shared on Wednesday that the team is making the choice to delay The Wolf Among Us 2 out of 2023, meaning the game will now launch at some point in 2024.
This decision was made for a couple of reasons. Speaking with IGN, Telltale Games CEO Jamie Ottilie says that the delay is happening partly because the team wants to move The Wolf Among Us 2 from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. This move will allow for some additional features, but will also require more time. The other big reason the game is being delayed is to avoid crunch.
"We don't want to burn out our good people. It has been incredibly difficult to recruit the last two years between COVID and the labor markets and the growth in the games industry," Otillie says.
"So certainly, burning people out or grinding them down is the wrong thing to do long-term. It's not how you build a business. And as an industry, we're terrible about it. We burn our people out. We burn our best people out faster. And as an industry, if we're going to continue to grow, we have to stop it. We just have to stop doing it and make better choices."
This lines up with the studio's stated goals from years ago, when Telltale Games explained in 2019 that the revived studio was aiming to be crunch-free. In addition to The Wolf Among Us 2, Telltale Games is currently co-developing a series based on The Expanse.
The Wolf Among Us was built by the original Telltale Games, releasing episodically from October 2013 through July 2014. The Wolf Among Us 2 will also be an episodic game, but will be released in its entirety instead of having one episode launch at a time.
Windows Central's take
This move is obviously disappointing to huge fans of the original game, like myself. It was easily one of my most anticipated games of 2023. That being said, wanting to move from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5 and especially wanting to avoid crunch are both admirable goals, so I understand the decision. Whenever The Wolf Among Us 2 arrives, it could be one of the best Xbox games for any fans of the setting like me.
I'll see you next year, Bigby.
