Walking dead, batman and wolf among us were and they are popularTV isn't even like that anymore with streaming. They should have just went for viral moments and memes. Until Dawn got popular being a choice type game and wasn't episodic. So did Detroit Become Human.
I don't think it really matters at all if its episodic or not. I dont think this game made a big wave in the culture so it may benefit this game to build momentum this way
