Sam & Max return for season two

The Sam & Max series of adventure games developed by Telltale Games is one of the first episodic success stories in gaming. After the series debuted in October of last year, the quirky crime-fighting duo hit a fairly regular rhythm of releases beginning with its second installment in January and concluding with its sixth installment in May. A boxed set of season one will hit retail shelves this August.

Seemingly taking its cues from network television, Telltale Games announced today it would be ending Sam & Max's summer hiatus by launching the first episode of season two this fall. As with its first season, Sam & Max will initially debut on the PC-game distribution service GameTap. However, unlike the two-week exclusivity for season one, the first episode of season two will be available on Telltale's Web site the day after it premieres on GameTap. Telltale did not mention whether episodes from the second season will join those from the first on Valve's game-distribution service, Steam.

Today's announcement was light on game-specific details, but the second season will follow in the same vein as the first. According to Telltale's design director Dave Grossman, "We're keeping the general structure and gameplay, and focusing on telling farther-reaching, crazier stories. You'll see some changes to the world, too, improvements that were born out of player feedback and our own desire to make the most fun games anyone has ever played."