Telltale Games knows how to make an excellent game out of a popular cable TV show. They did it with their episodic adaptation of The Walking Dead, which offered a more thoughtful approach to the zombie genre than the typical run-around-and-kill-stuff type of game (not that running around and killing stuff isn’t a whole lot of fun). Now they may be turning their talents towards another show by making a game based on everyone’s favorite ultra-violent fantasy epic, Game of Thrones.
This rumor comes courtesy of IGN, who claim to have been told by “multiple sources” that the project is in the works. The timing is right too, as Telltale Games is just about to release the second “season” of The Walking Dead and are likely looking for their next big hit. Game of Thrones, despite being an immensely popular book series and an immensely popular TV series, has yet to make a splash in the world of video games, even though a few developers have tried. Putting a video game adaptation into the hands of a studio with the proven track record of Telltale Games seems like a pretty smart move.
In addition to its recent foray into The Walking Dead universe, Telltale is also known for its Sam & Max and Monkey Island games. Their titles have all had one thing in common, which is that they are variations on the point-and-click adventure genre. It’s not exactly the most wildly popular format these days, with the big bucks going toward first-person shooters and Grand Theft Auto-style open world games, but the folks at Telltale have carved out a nice niche for themselves as creators of well-crafted, lower-budget games that manage to find a devoted following despite not having bells and whistles like online play.
It’s worth noting, of course, that Telltale has not yet confirmed any involvement in creating a Game of Thrones video game. Its senior VP of publishing Steve Allison has stated, “We get these sorts of rumors about what we could be working on next cropping up all the time. Officially we have no comment.” So in other words, don’t count your dragons before they’re hatched.