Telltale buys Erica developer Flavourworks

Narrative adventure developer Telltale has snapped up Flavourworks, the UK-based studio behind FMV game Erica.

This is, of course, the more recently-reborn version of Telltale which sprung back to life in 2019 under new management, after the original Telltale went under.

Flavourworks, meanwhile, remains best known as the developer of Erica, which first launched for PlayStation 4 back in 2019. In the years since it has refocused around mobile, and released the similarly movie-like Hush - Crane, based around the company's smart TouchVideo tech.

It sounds like Telltale is very interested in TouchVideo, which is designed to let players seamlessly interact with recorded video (pulling back the trigger of a gun on a smartphone screen simply by making the appropriate on-screen motion over the video footage, for example).

"The Flavourworks' team, technology, and creative expertise is a perfect fit for Telltale," said Sir Ian Livingstone (CBE) of Hiro Capital, which has backed both studios. "Following Telltale's successful launch of The Expanse, with its strong reviews and excellent player feedback, I look forward to seeing what gameplay innovations a collaboration with Flavourworks will bring in building best-in-class narrative games."

Our Bertie previously told the story of Flavourworks, and how it was founded by two young developers who pooled all their savings to get Erica made.

"Telltale is the perfect partner to maximise the value of our proprietary TouchVideo games engine," said Zack Slatter, Flavourworks boss. "They are the iconic narrative gaming brand, and we look forward to powering distribution of their games on new platforms, as well as tapping their creative and publishing resources to elevate our own original IP development."

It's a busy time for the new Telltale, meanwhile, which launched its first all-new project since its revival last month, in the shape of The Expanse: A Telltale Series - or rather, the first episode of it (there will be five in total).

After that, Telltale is set to begin releasing its long-awaited The Wolf Among Us 2, which is currently set to debut in 2024.