Lionsgate Invests in Telltale Games with Focus on TV/Video Game Hybrid

SANTA MONICA/SAN RAFAEL: Lionsgate has made an investment in Telltale Games, a game developer and publisher responsible for gaming extensions for The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, with plans to co-develop original projects.

The investment will continue the extension of Lionsgate's film and TV brands into the game space. It will also enable the two companies to explore opportunities to co-develop existing and original IP into episodic games and TV. As part of its investment, Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate's CEO, will join the Telltale board of directors.

Telltale is known for its narrative-driven episodic games, notably the blockbuster hit The Walking Dead, which has sold 8.5 million copies, as well as the hit Game of Thrones, based on the TV series.

The two are already planning a game/series "super show" hybrid, which includes both scripted and playable elements for episodes.

"Telltale is one of the premier storytellers in the gaming world today," said Feltheimer. "Their leadership in narrative-driven episodic games, together with our investment and the potential opportunities created by our premium content expertise, will continue to strengthen their ability to offer exciting new avenues of storytelling to their next generation audiences across a broad range of platforms."

"Lionsgate is one of the most innovative, entrepreneurial and impressive content companies in the world today. I'm delighted to welcome an experienced executive like Jon, a leader who shares our unique vision, to our board," said Telltale's CEO, Kevin Bruner. "Lionsgate has a great track record in developing and marketing feature films as well as platform-defining premium scripted television. This partnership will accelerate Telltale's ability to create not only original games, but episodic television series based on our game properties, an area at the cutting edge of industry growth."

"Our partnership with Kevin Bruner and his team at Telltale continues to accelerate our momentum in the game space," added Peter Levin, Lionsgate's president of interactive ventures and games. "The convergence between premium filmed entertainment brands and original game properties is a natural direction in which to continue diversifying our content business, and Telltale is the perfect partner with whom to explore this dynamic area of growth."