The New York Videogame Critics Circle held a spirited panel discussion at the New York Games Conference yesterday. Onstage at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Tom’s Guide’s Sherri Smith, former AV Club games editor Matt Gerardi, CNET’s Dan Ackerman, DreamYard senior intern Kimari Rennis and Circle founder Harold Goldberg talked about everything from potential games of the year including best in mobile and indie games and issues like severance and crunch times at game studios.

One salient question from the audience surrounded labor practices in the games world. Telltale Games’ fall, including the firing of its staff without offering severance, was widely decried by the panel.

With the release of the first Walking Dead game, Telltale was at least partially responsible for changing narrative in games for the better. But its treatment of fired staff members will be a blot on its storied history.

The panel also spoke about potential games of the year for the New York Game Awards on January 22. These include God of War and the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2, Fallout 76 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Special thanks to Amber McCollum, Ned Sherman and Tinzar Sherman!