Ex-Telltale Staff Launches FirstShot Games

Ever since the closure of Telltale Games September 2018, many of the studio’s former team members have been looking for work or experimenting with new ideas. Ex-Telltale staff member and narrative designer Emily Buck has revealed what she’s been working on since the closure of the studio, and it’s quite fascinating. In an interview with Game Luster, Buck gave some insight into her new mentor program, FirstShot Games. This program is aimed towards assisting new game writers launch their first finished project and it’s free to join.

FirstShot Games will focus on diverse and original narrative ideas, something that Buck feels is lacking in the industry today.

I’m so excited that all of you are so excited about Buckshot Interactive and the FirstShot Games program. This is something I’ve been wanting to do since Telltale shutdown & I’ve been nervous to launch it. Thank you. This means so much. Let’s make some interactive narrative

— Emily Grace Buck (@emilybuckshot) January 7, 2019

Anyone can apply, but writers are encouraged to be original and not borrow from existing IP. The application states:

You can write your first game about wizards, or getting your first period, or about experiencing casual racism, or about someone’s father dying, or about playing on the playground, two lizards falling in love, or a wizard that is also a fish, or…. whatever you want!

One of the requirements is that the games must take two hours or less to complete, and must be developed within a year. Along with that, writers who are brought on will hold the rights to the IP they create and will receive 80% of the revenue from sales after the game is published. FirstShot Games will take care of all the publishing and focus solely on assisting the writer.

Buck believes that more can be done to encourage representation and diversity in games, and this is a step in that direction.

Currently, Buck is working on an RPG called The Waylanders, in which she is the narrative writer. Her past work with Telltale includes The Walking Dead: Michonne, Batman: The Enemy Within, as well as The Walking Dead: The Final Season, which ran the risk of never seeing the light of day after Telltale’s demise.

If you’re interested in narrative writing for games, this could be a great way to get started. You can apply here.

[Source: Game Luster]