Episodic gaming is back in 2025! 🎮 The developers behind Telltale Games are returning with a brand-new project called Dispatch, a narrative-driven, choice-based adventure that brings back the magic of cliffhangers, tough decisions, and story-driven gameplay.
In this video, we’ll dive deep into:
The rise and fall of Telltale Games
Why episodic gaming mattered so much to players
My personal experience of waiting for full seasons before playing
How Dispatch is set to evolve the episodic formula for a modern audience
Speculation on Dispatch’s story, characters, and gameplay improvements
Whether episodic storytelling can thrive again in today’s gaming industry
Telltale gave us unforgettable experiences with The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Batman: The Telltale Series, and Tales from the Borderlands. Now, Dispatch could be the comeback episodic gaming has been waiting for.
👉 Are you excited for Dispatch? Will you play episode by episode or wait until the full season is released? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
If you love deep dives into gaming history, news, and speculation, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more!
00:30Episodic gaming. It's one of those ideas that seem like it could change the way we experience stories and video games forever. For a while, it did. Each new episode was like tuning in for the latest chapter of your favorite TV series, only this time you had control over how the story unfolded, and now in 2025, the developers who made it all possible are returning to that format with a brand new title.
01:00Dispatch. But before we get into what Dispatch is aiming to do, let's rewind a little and talk about why Episodic gaming captured so many people's imaginations in the first place, and why some of us, myself included, enjoyed it in a slightly different way than originally intended.
01:16Back in the early 2010s, Telltale Games became a household name for gamers who love narrative-driven adventures. The company had been around since 2004, but it was The Walking Dead in 2012 that truly put Episodic gaming on the map.
01:31The idea was simple. Release a story and chapters, each just a few hours long, with meaningful choices that shaped the outcome, and then make players wait, sometimes weeks, sometimes months, before the next installment.
01:46The design turned each release into an event. Fans speculated endlessly online, discussed their choices, and tried to predict what would happen next.
01:55It was the gaming equivalent of Water Cooler Talk after a big episode of a TV show.
02:01Now, I'll admit something here. While I really enjoyed a lot of Telltale's episodic games, The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, and their Batman series, it wasn't always great at playing them the way they were designed.
02:14Instead of diving into each new episode as it dropped, I usually waited until the entire season was finished, before playing through it.
02:22For me, it was all about the flow of the story. I liked experiencing it in one continuous arc, almost like binging a Netflix series, instead of waiting week to week.
02:31And honestly, a lot of people felt the same way. While episodic releases were exciting in theory, waiting months between chapters could be frustrating. Some players fell off midway through a season and never came back. Others, like me, decided to wait until the season wrapped up, so they could experience it all in one go.
02:50Unfortunately, Telltale's meteoric rise didn't last. By 2018, the studio had collapsed under financial strain and mismanagement. Dozens of projects were cancelled, employees were left in limbo, and games like The Wolf Among Us 2 were shelved indefinitely.
03:07It was a devastating moment, not just for the developers, but for the fans who had grown attached to this very specific form of storytelling. For a while, it looked like episodic gaming might have died with Telltale.
03:18Even with its flaws, Telltale gave us something special. I mean, those cliffhangers? Those gut-wrenching choices? The first time you played The Walking Dead and realized your decision about who lived or died actually carried over into the next episode? It was groundbreaking.
03:35Fast forward to today. Many of the creative minds who once built Telltale's most beloved games are back, and their next big project? A new episodic adventure called Dispatch.
03:45The goal isn't just to replicate what worked before. It's to evolve it. While full details are still under wraps, we know that Dispatch is built on the foundation of episodic storytelling. Morally complex decisions, branching narratives, and endings that leave you eager for the next chapter.
04:03But this time, the developers have had years to reflect on what worked and what didn't. They've seen how players' habits changed. They know that some fans like me prefer waiting until the whole season drops.
04:15And they know others love that drip, feed a suspense where every cliffhanger keeps you talking until the next episode.
04:21But here's the thing. Episodic storytelling is alive and well in other media. Streaming services thrive on weekly drops that keep audiences hooked. Others thrive on binge models where you can consume everything at once.
04:37Dispatch has the opportunity to offer both experiences. Episodic tension for those who want it, and a full season binge for players like me who would rather wait.
04:46The announcement of Dispatch isn't just about one game. It's about proving that narrative-driven choice-based adventures still matter.
04:53It's about giving players a reason to care about stories and games again, not just mechanics or graphics.
04:59For fans of Telltale's Golden Age, Dispatch feels like a second chance. A chance to revisit the kind of storytelling that made us fall in love with games in the first place.
05:09And honestly, I can't wait. Whether you're the kind of player that jumps into each episode the moment it drops, or someone like me who likes to wait until the full story is complete, Dispatch looks like it's bringing back that magic that we thought we'd lost.
05:24Episodic gaming is back, and with Dispatch, it might just be better than ever.
05:29So, what do you think? Will episodic storytelling thrive in today's gaming landscape, or is it just nostalgia pulling us back in?
05:37Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and don't forget to hit like and subscribe for more deep dives into the biggest stories in gaming.
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