Obsidian Joining Microsoft Was "Absolutely Critical" to Keep Studio Alive

From GameWatcher: "Following the buzz about the Obsidian Microsoft deal that we've been hearing about over the past few weeks, many of us have been wondering what the truth behind the Microsoft Obsidian buyout is, and how the devs themselves are looking at it.

Well, in a recent video, Obsidian staff have come out to officially confirm that it did, indeed, happen, and to try and answer why did Obsidian join Microsoft. We've got some of the details down below.":

[Vasto]

I want to welcome everybody from Obsidian to the family.

Stay tuned because we are still not done.

[RookieMonsterLives]

Aaron Greenberg, is that you?

[Jinger]

Lol, right? I understand being excited, but some of these folks act like they're spokesman

[MoshA]

So happy they are done with those boring books they've been making.
Hopefully Microsoft will give them full creative freedom, they have as much potential as Cd Project Red if they're given time and money.

[MadLad]

Their "books" are garnering game of the year awards ..

[Christopher]

Vasto: let me make the worst comment on this submission.

MoshA: Hold my beer...

[Elda]

To your family?

[Strafe]

Yes.

[Larrysweet]

Hahhaha give it a rest lmbo i mean come on do u make money of microsoft..thats kinda stupidity ruins gaming

[sampsonon]

game pass, i would say you're done. cheap game anyone?

[majiebeast]

Welcome till Microsoft shuts em down cause their game doesn't sell so that is within 3 years.

[BlackRaven85_1]

This had me laughing. Fanboys are a trip.

[TheSaint]

Cringey af.

[UltraNova]

And here is my favorite fantasy shareholder this week.

[Sirk7x]

I like my Xbox and everything, and I'm happy about the studio acquisitions, but that's something Phil Spencer would say on a stage lol. You okay man? xD

[cyber_daemonx]

@vasto, you make it sound like they're joining the mafia lol.

[rainslacker]

You know....ms may talk a lot, but I doubt they really want you speaking for them like that.

Unless you are a representative for ms, in which case so much makes sense now, because your brand of praise is about as useless as ms brand of marketing.

[Christopher]

Didn't know you were a part of Microsoft...

[Spurg]

Everyone wants a fallout style game and they are the people to make it happen.

[King_Noctis]

I’m sure something like that will happen. With Obsidian retaining their creative rights, I can’t wait to see what they can do with bigger budget from MS.

[Mystogan]

Actually wasteland 3 looks pretty good. And they bought that studio as well.

[porkChop]

I'll buy whatever they put out, but I'd really like a return to Alpha Protocol if they can get the IP from Sega. The game was great, it just needed more polish.

[BlackTar187]

Alpha was great but holy hot hell was it buggier then Bethesda. They also need to balance the stats a lot better.

All that though I really enjoyed that game.

[porkChop]

Yeah, absolutely. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was a great game. With a sequel they could take their time and really perfect it.

[Christopher]

Loved Alpha Protocol. Sit through a third of the game dying like crazy on a pistol and stealth design, then become a God.

[RookieMonsterLives]

It was a great acquisition for MS as Obsidian made 2 of the geatest western RPGs ever in New Vegas Fallout and KOTOR2. With MS backing, they can once again make a big Western RPG for next generation.

[ORyanDeee]

What is KOTOR2?

[BlackTar187]

Knights of the old republic

[Sam Fisher]

@black tar

You forgot 2

[RizBiz]

You liked KOTOR2? It had decent enough concepts, but the game was buggy as f*cking balls. It also doesn't hold a candle to the original KOTOR. o_O

[MadLad]

Play the Kotor 2 that the development team had invisioned, had they been given a proper development schedule. It can be had on Steam, with the fan patch already implemented, and with the HD texture pack. I have to highly disagree. Obsidian's writing in Kotor 2 HIGHLY tops that of Bioware's with the original. Much more player agency within the missions, and the overall tone of the game offered much more in the way of moral relativism, aka moral grey areas. Whereas Kotor was little more than evil vs good, in every choice to be made. Great game, but Obsidian just tends to offer more sophisticated writing than most; taking the roleplaying aspects of the title into consideration when handling the writing.

[RizBiz]

Yeah. KOTOR is a Star Wars game. Star Wars at its very core is good vs. evil. The only good thing I can remember about KOTOR 2 is HK-50, and it wasn't because he was "morally grey."
You also can't base how good a game is from what modders have done to it after its release. It might as well be a completely different game.

[CarlDechance]

" 2 of the geatest western RPGs ever in New Vegas Fallout and KOTOR2"

lol....oh please. Not even close.

[MadLad]

I definitely agree that New Vegas ranks among them. Kotor 2 was a mixed bag; only becoming what it was meant to be after years of digging into the code, and modders finishing a lot of the cut content from the original release.

[CarlDechance]

To each their own I guess. New Vegas wouldn't make it in my top 10. KOTOR 2 was just a mess. Obsidian seemed to find their niche with the tabletop RPG Pillars of Eternity. It isn't quite Divinity, but it is a pretty good game.

[MadLad]

So, uh, how about InXile lend you the rights to Wasteland, and we can get a 1st person Fallout competitor on our hands??

[TheColbertinator]

Genius

[porkChop]

That's a great idea, though I think Microsoft will likely be handing the Fable IP to Obsidian. They could do great things for that franchise.

[Jon61586]

I would love to see an Alpha Protocol 2

[Segata]

Likely SEGA's IP. Not sure Obsidian owns any IPs

[Poopmist]

They own Pillars

[Smokehouse]

Indie is tough, it’s not like EA where you can sustain failure after failure. A couple of flops in indie and you are wondering how to keep the lights on. All it takes is a hit to bring you back though, like nier for platinum. If they can keep that sense of freedom and get big publisher support then it makes it that much easier. The bad part is that you are owned now. When they say you are done then you are done. Platinum would have been dissolved long before they caught their break with nier.

[dragonyght]

"Obsidian Joining Microsoft Was "Absolutely Critical" to Keep Studio Alive" and now you are on life support -_-

[RizBiz]

Unfortunately, history has shown us that M$ life support only lasts 1-2 years. :(

[rainslacker]

I don't think ms is on a spending spree now with the intent to close the studios down. Obsidia does own enough ips to make it worth the acquisition if they just intended to close them down.

Its probably time people start accepting ms is doing this to offer more games. Discuss the kinds of games, how long it may take to come, and things of that nature, but it's not right to spend years telling them they need to make or buy studios, make more games, then just say that they're just going to.close them down.

[Segata]

Bethesda would have been a better fit. Now I get to watch MS kill Obsidian slowly. They let Rare go to crap. Darkside games die. Killed Press Play and Lionhead. Cancel projects and shut down studios is all MS does this gen. MS forgot you need games to sell a video game console. I love my 360 and original Xbox but this gen, I'm sorry but it's been an underwhelming system. Even Wii U had a bunch of then exclusives. Xbox One...not so much. So they buy all these studios and just expect more underwhelming games as the few times this gen MS did release a game not named Halo or Forza it's been mediocre at best.

[Jinger]

They didn't let Rare go to crap. They bought Rare when Nintendo was done with them and didn't want to keep doing work with them and didn't renew their stock. Maybe they saw the decline. During that whole process and, almost being bought by Activision instead, a handful of people starting leaving. Then when MS bought them and gave them too much freedom they didn't know what to do. They were so use to having Nintendo guide them they didn't know how to guide themselves. Rare was only good because of Nintendo, so when Nintendo dumped them they would have fallen apart either at Activision or MS either way.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Rare is a studio that did not adapt too well to the changes in game development that occurred in the early 2000s. Rare’s Projects released from 2001-2005 used way too small of development teams.Perfect Dark Zero had a development team of only developers who worked on the game for 4 years.

I admit,that I liked Kameo, PDZ and Conker: R &L, but I can see how Rare’s focus on small teams and long dev times hurt their lower budget AAA titles. What’ if PDZ had a larger team make it and it released 1 year before Halo 2 with top end production quality?

[PhoenixUp]

You think Bethesda would’ve actually sold out?

[CarlDechance]

Not even up to Bethesda. They are owned by Zenimax Media. And yeah, I doubt very seriously they would sell Bethesda.

[porkChop]

I think they meant that Bethesda would have been a better fit to own these studios.

[mafiabrett]

Pretty sure they meant Bethesda should of bought Obsidian instead of Microsoft. I kinda agree, Bethesda games lack RP depth and writing. Obsidian would of brought both to the table.

[Christopher]

Bethesda buying Obsidian would just result in more Bethesda games.

[MadLad]

Bethesda has been embittered towards Obsidian ever since, years later, general consensus is that Obsidian's deeper, more RPG-focused Fallout, is better than Bethesda's offerings.

[bluefox755]

MS mills everything it touches. I have zero faith in them these days.

[rainslacker]

Bethesda would be quite costly to acquire.

Edit: people ay you mean Bethesda should have brought them.

While that's possibly a good fit, obsidia doesn't own much worth buying for the studio itself, and they could just make.their own studio, or enter a publishing deal with obsidia if they wanted them to make a game.

[Wrex369]

Give this team time and money and you'll have them paying for themselves in due time.

[RizBiz]

Neither of which M$ will give them. They'll build a game, show a trailer, get people excited, and M$ will kill it and them.

[FullmetalRoyale]

Enjoy the fruits from selling your soul. You won’t be long for this world.

[sazselesbon]

Microsoft should set a technological baseline, a common toolset between all those different studios, sharing knowledge in order to maximize output quality, just like Sony did, not relying too much on third party engines, but bespoke development for their proprietary hardware.

[Jinger]

No because all their games will start feeling too similar. Much like Sony's games are all turning into 3rd person emotional story driven games.

[Sam Fisher]

Funny you say that since these same formula games are getting 8s9s and 10s all over, maybe they are on to something

[Chevalier]

Clearly you have no idea about Sony games. So Gravity Rush, Dreams, LBP, MLB, Bloodborne, Infamous, Until Dawn, Horizon Zero Dawn are all the 'same' type game? Sorry thats one of the most idiotic things you've said recently. Maybe you should see what these studios release first before giving MS all these props

[Darkborn]

And how's that a bad thing? It seems like every first party Sony game is getting progressively better and selling more units everytime. Xbox is lucky to sell a couple million units. They only boast a few million "downloads" now because of game pass. No one even buys their new games anymore.. Like at all.

[Jinger]

Is gravity and Bloodborne a first party game? Sure, they do have variety im not saying they don't at all, but you can't deny a good handful are starting to feel a bit too similar. Uncharted, TLoU, God of War (now), Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone... all 3rd person story driven games.

Other than Dreams, what upcoming game isn't a 3rd person story driven game? TLoU2? Days Gone? Ghost of Tsushima (which looks amazing)? Even Death Stranding and Shenmue 3 are 3rd person story driven.

I'm not saying this lessens any of these games individually, but I would like another Killzone or Resistance or get some co-op games in there. Luckily i have the PSVR to give me some first person action. Blood and Truth looks great.

[Chevalier]

Why does it matter? Sony isn't forcing their studios to do by the numbers games and just let them make their games the way they want too. They're far better than their competitors by considerable margin.

And yes Gravity Rush and Bloodborne are Sony first party. Both were made by Sony Japan. Bloodborne was coproduced by Japan Studio and FromSoftware.

" Other than Dreams, what upcoming game isn't a 3rd person story driven game? TLoU2? Days Gone? Ghost of Tsushima (which looks amazing)? Even Death Stranding and Shenmue 3 are 3rd person story driven. "

Again what does it even matter? Sony isn't forcing their studios to try to make games to have a 1st person shooter or fit any genre. They have more than enough 2nd and 3rd party exclusives filling those gaps. You'd rather they forced their studios to follow up their games with certain types of games than doing their own thing? We'd end up with crap like Sea of Thieves or State of Decay 2 for example? No thanks. Its because Sony allows their studios to do their own thing that we got GoW, Spiderman, Bloodborne, Gravity Rush, Detroit, Until Dawn, Astrobot PSVR and stuff like Dreams, Ghost of Tsukishima and more on the way.

[pietro1212]

Microsoft utilize them Obsidian is a great team.

[KillZallthebeast]

Lol fu**ing ouch. I love this studio but that's a huge blow to their standings in acquisition to microsoft

[AspiringProGenji]

better that than seeing great studios die

[TheColbertinator]

Homestly I am glad. Still concerned but I trust Obsidian to stick by their vision.

[Last_Boss]

Just please put P.o.E II on PS4 still.

[dreamoner]

Article is misleading. Obs wasn't about to die, yeah Deadfire flopped but it was their smaller team's game, a much bigger team has been working on an AAA rpg for Take Two for couple of years now, which will probably release next year. As for "critical", its in the sense that Obsidian(more like that guy Chris Parker) wanting to make AAA RPGs but they haven't been able to with the budgets they have so its critical to have the support of MS to be able to do that.

[Donnie81]

Obsidian is gonna be one of Microsofts tent pole devs. I think it's time for a proper halo action rpg and that's right in their wheelhouse

[RizBiz]

That could actually be pretty interesting.

[rainslacker]

They're capable of making fps and tps shooter games as well. They're quite diverse.

[MadLad]

Calling it right now. Microsoft acquired both Obsidian AND InXile, so they'd have access not only to developers familiar with the Fallout series, but also a similar setting, and fleshed out roleplaying system with brand recognition - Wasteland.

Microsoft has a high-budget Fallout competitor in mind.

[RizBiz]

Gross.

[sampsonon]

yeah, MS will slowly destroy it.

[timotim]

Its clear that Microsoft plans on gearing up for AAA RPGs in the coming years. With Obsidian and InXile, they have both the talent and IPs to do it.

[The_Sage]

Obsidian... Never heard of em.

[Emme]

One if the sad things I learned is that thereare three rypes of companies: the contract workers, the ones working with publishers, and the indies. The contract workers deliver whats requested. The ones seeking publisher support have to compromise a lot, and the indies, well its a lottery. Its sad that even the best publisher-supported studios live from game to game, and if one fails...

[Bobafret]

Let's hope they can straighten out their financials, otherwise MS is throwing their money into an endless pit.

[TheHunter81]

So glad I own a PC. Hope they make a massive open world RPG. New Vegas was legit!!!!