Obsidian and inXile acquired by Microsoft

[Boleskine]

 

[Latelistener]

Time to start taking bets on whether Josh Sawyer returns home from his trip to Wisconsin to announce his resignation, then.

Although you'd think as the company Design Director, the owners would have taken special steps to reassure him...

I'm surprised he's still there. New Vegas was his golden hour and now it's in the past. He wants to make a turn-based history RPG, but Obsidian won't let him (it's less viable for mass market than fantasy), so he blames players for this.

All of this while Logic Artists created two Expeditions.

 

[Jenkem]

Say what you want about Feargus's acumen as a businessman, at least he is smart enough to see the writing on the wall. He knows there is no place in the upcoming CRPG incline brought to us by our Slavic and Rus friends to the east. OwlCat, Mono Studio, Warhorse Studios, and of course, GrapeOcean, are blazing forth in the great reclamation of the CRPG and Feargus knows that his popamole cannot compete in the PC free market.

 

[Morgoth]

Final nail in the coffin.

Shame as I was looking forward to Cain and Boyarsky's project.

You moron, that's the one MS wants to turn into a franchise.

Or do you really think they wanna buy them for PoT?

Yeah cos MS dumbing the project down for console trash is going to be Cain and Boyarsky's true vision.

The project was set out to be a console RPG from the beginning. What else is there to dumb down?

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

i wouldn't be surprised if most devs didn't knew about the buyout. We could see a few more names fuck off after the "game" is finished.

Usually you're all like "if you wish Obsidian to go bankrupt, you're wishing all its employees very hard times as they spend years searching for a new job".

Then you're like "most people will jump ship to another studio the next day after the buyout".

 

[Night Goat]

Looks like a bunch of desperate Codexers are gonna be buying Xboxes!

 

[Infinitron]

I'm surprised he's still there. New Vegas was his golden hour and now it's in the past. He wants to make a turn-based history RPG, but Obsidian won't let him (it's less viable for mass market than fantasy), so he blames players for this.

A historical RPG might be a no-go, but as far as turn-based goes, seems not impossible that Microsoft might try turning Obsidian into their own in-house Larian competitor.

 

[Rev]

I guess it's the final nail in the coffin for Obsidian, then.
They already lost almost all their best designer and writers, now they'll probably be bought by Microsoft that will put them to work on some popomole AAA console titles for some years until they'll probably close them down like they did with a lot of other studios.

Curious to see if Sawyer will stay if the acquisition is true, since MS obviously won't finance his Darklands-like dream game since they don't give a shit about something so niche. And curious about Boyarsky, Cain and what will happen to Indiana. They're basically the only big names in Obsidian now, and none of them sign up to work for MS.

 

[fantadomat]

i wouldn't be surprised if most devs didn't knew about the buyout. We could see a few more names fuck off after the "game" is finished.

Usually you're all like "if you wish Obsidian to go bankrupt, you're wishing all its employees very hard times as they spend years searching for a new job".

Then you're like "most people will jump ship to another studio the next day after the buyout".

I never said such stupid shit mate. I don't care if talentless fucks spend their life searching for a job! Fuck them in the ass for all i care! Have zero sympathy for any californian spoiled cuck!

 

[Sentinel]

“Unfortunately, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation other than to say that the Rumors album by Fleetwood Mac still holds up,” said an Obsidian spokesperson.

He isn't wrong.

 

[Flou]

Anthony Davis and Richard Taylor left recently for Blizzard. Both were fairly important for Indiana (Lead Programmer / Lead Producer). It's not uncommon, but now we may see this from a different perspective. Especially considering that Anthony Davis was defending Obsidian owners during the May of Rage.

They will be back with a hefty pay raise after a year or two when Obsidian is hiring under Microsoft and 1-4 of the old owners are gone with their feuds.
I don't see the owners staying long after a possible sell. Chris Jones barely works even now, after getting millions of dollars? No way. I really doubt they would even want to keep him at the company.
Feargus is the face of the company and probably the only one any buyer would want to keep for a while.

Also Anthony Davis wasn't the Lead Programmer.

 

[Infinitron]

“Unfortunately, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation other than to say that the Rumors album by Fleetwood Mac still holds up,” said an Obsidian spokesperson.

He isn't wrong.

 

[Sentinel]

Anthony Davis and Richard Taylor left recently for Blizzard.

do you have a sauce?

 

[FreeKaner]

Only good can come out of this. Either Microsoft's acquisition marginalises Feargus and the studio actually makes decent games for different IPs as they once did, or they don't and this episode of dumpsterfire is snuffed out.

 

[Latelistener]

do you have a sauce?

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-leonard-boyarsky.119594/page-12#post-5813915
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-leonard-boyarsky.119594/page-13#post-5819404

I don't see the owners staying long after a possible sell. Chris Jones barely works even now, after getting millions of dollars? No way. I really doubt they would even want to keep him at the company.
Feargus is the face of the company and probably the only one any buyer would want to keep for a while.

The whole thing was needed so the c-level could safely drive into sunset with bags of cash. That's probably the only positive thing. The negative thing is that the new leadership will probably have nothing to lead after that (see Bioware).

 

[Nano]

Anthony Davis and Richard Taylor left recently for Blizzard.

do you have a sauce?

MCALeaks, as Infinitron calls it

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-leonard-boyarsky.119594/page-13#post-5819404
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-leonard-boyarsky.119594/page-12#post-5813915

 

[Flou]

I guess it's the final nail in the coffin for Obsidian, then.
They already lost almost all their best designer and writers, now they'll probably be bought by Microsoft that will put them to work on some popomole AAA console titles for some years until they'll probably close them down like they did with a lot of other studios.

Curious to see if Sawyer will stay if the acquisition is true, since MS obviously won't finance his Darklands-like dream game since they don't give a shit about something so niche. And curious about Boyarsky, Cain and what will happen to Indiana. They're basically the only big names in Obsidian now, and none of them sign up to work for MS.

Or MS decides not do that what EA did with BioWare and Obsidian will be actually allowed to work on crpgs and not some watered down corridor shooters. If they are looking to broaden their portfolio they need more games from their studios than just 1 every 3-4 years. With the current MS leadership I could see them actually working on smaller games as well that said, how long is the current leadership going to last?

With Microsoft's resources and marketing behind them, the company would actually stand a chance on keeping some of their best staffers. Instead of losing them to Blizzard etc. just because at Blizzard you will get to work on more prestigious games, you have some job security and you get paid better. With Microsoft running the company some of those issues go away.

 

[Infinitron]

Yes, the most important question is this - for what purpose is Microsoft acquiring Obsidian?

To make console-centric AAA action-RPGs (something they can already do with that dev they acquired to make Fable 4), or to be what Firaxis is to Take-Two Interactive?

It could be either. Microsoft haven't proven themselves to be very smart in the past, so I wouldn't put anything past them.

 

[Jarpie]

I wonder what Chris Avellone thinks about all of this, and would he go back to work in there at least on some capacity or freelancer if the management would be replaced.

 

[Sailor Woedica]

The fanart of obsidian stuff is going to be crazy good if Microsoft buys them and has Pillars as a dragon age style game! Hopefully Josh stays!

 

[santino27]

I wonder what Chris Avellone thinks about all of this, and would he go back to work in there at least on some capacity or freelancer if the management would be replaced.

If mgmt were replaced, I can't imagine why he wouldn't at least do contract work with Obsidian. He does it with tons of companies, and has said he still likes many of the rank and file at the place. Assuming the other owners weren't going to profit from his involvement, I'd think he would be open to it, depending on the project.

 

[FreeKaner]

Will Microsoft arrive as the unexpected hero that ushers a new age of narrative direction and storytelling in interesting worlds in unexplored settings? Will this allow a reborn obsidian from the ashes of a dumpsterfire?

No, not likely.

 

[Rev]

I guess it's the final nail in the coffin for Obsidian, then.
They already lost almost all their best designer and writers, now they'll probably be bought by Microsoft that will put them to work on some popomole AAA console titles for some years until they'll probably close them down like they did with a lot of other studios.

Curious to see if Sawyer will stay if the acquisition is true, since MS obviously won't finance his Darklands-like dream game since they don't give a shit about something so niche. And curious about Boyarsky, Cain and what will happen to Indiana. They're basically the only big names in Obsidian now, and none of them sign up to work for MS.

Or MS decides not do that what EA did with BioWare and Obsidian will be actually allowed to work on crpgs and not some watered down corridor shooters. If they are looking to broaden their portfolio they need more games from their studios than just 1 every 3-4 years. With the current MS leadership I could see them actually working on smaller games as well that said, how long is the current leadership going to last?

With Microsoft's resources and marketing behind them, the company would actually stand a chance on keeping some of their best staffers. Instead of losing them to Blizzard etc. just because at Blizzard you will get to work on more prestigious games, you have some job security and you get paid better. With Microsoft running the company some of those issues go away.

Well, MS wants new IPs and games now because everyone (rightly) say that Xbox has no exclusive, but what about five years from now? Will they still give a shit? They had a ton of exclusives with 360, but they chased other directions, they'll probably star to follow other trends as well in the future.
Obsidian will be like Lionhead for them: some generic popamole AAA action/rpg, then if MS stops giving a shit about it can end the same way, with the studio closing down.

Anyway, MS don't give a shit about mid budget rpg like PoE, Shadowrun, D:OS and the like, that's too niche for them. People here didn't always liked Obsidian games, but everyone wanted them to do go for deeper, more complex rpg and that's not the direction they'll take under MS, that's for sure.

 

[Flou]

Yes, the most important question is this - for what purpose is Microsoft acquiring Obsidian?

To make console-centric AAA action-RPGs (something they can already do with that dev they acquired to make Fable 4), or to be what Firaxis is for Take-Two Interactive?

It could be either. Microsoft haven't proven themselves to be very smart in the past, so I wouldn't put anything past them.

Exactly. With proper leadership, they should be able to recognize that Obsidian has a steady fanbase in PC games and while making multiplatform games is given. Abandoning PC centric games would be stupid choice considering what they are buying. Getting a studio that makes certain kind of games for a certain market and then having them to do completely the opposite would be quite fucking stupid.

Problem with these bigger corporations are that the CEO might change 2 years from now and their whole direction as a company will shift.

 

[fantadomat]

Yes, the most important question is this - for what purpose is Microsoft acquiring Obsidian?

To make console-centric AAA action-RPGs (something they can already do with that dev they acquired to make Fable 4), or to be what Firaxis is for Take-Two Interactive?

It could be either. Microsoft haven't proven themselves to be very smart in the past, so I wouldn't put anything past them.

Maybe they are trying to get back in the game by buying a few cheap studios and pumping a lot of games for the xbox and pc? This days the console market is more about quantity of decent games than quality. If they manage to pump up the xbone market with ok AA games,it will be a win for them. Still i doubt that they have the brains to do this. If this is the only their acquisition...well that will be weird,obsidian doesn't have much to offer,outside of past laurels.