I have never seen a more shitty comment gaming related out of a person
"Sometimes people losing work is preferable so as long as their studio's integrity remains"
You are a living, breathing human who actively drinks water and you said that shit.
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Microsoft has acquired Obsidian Entertainment
- Thread starter M. Wallace
- Start date
I have never seen a more shitty comment gaming related out of a person
"Sometimes people losing work is preferable so as long as their studio's integrity remains"
You are a living, breathing human who actively drinks water and you said that shit.
Everyone's getting mad at that comment when most of the people who were at Bioware when that buyout happened aren't even there anymore lol.
It's so weird how people here immortalize gaming jobs as something sacred when the actual industry churns through people like a meat grinder. It's an interesting dynamic and one I don't see here with any other industry.
???
My comment was directed towards corporations that buy and ruin companies.
Is the Outer Worlrds IP owned by Obsidian or take two private division?
Definitely interesting to see if MS try and secure it
Definitely interesting to see if MS try and secure it
I would consider it a high probability that Microsoft would secure the product since its using a majority of Obsidian's staff (70ish percent), and is probably shipping in 2020.
Private Division's goal is to incubate new IPs and cultivate long term relationships with independent developers (presumably hoping to buy them or the IP if it's a big success). But since the IP ownership remains with Obsidian currently, not 2K, and with MS is buying them both of the Private Division objectives are out the window. They will not be keen to keep pumping money into a game that they can't make any sequels to even if it's a big hit. They'll probably play up how much they want the game in talks with Microsoft, but that's just to try and get the maximum payout possible.
I'm often TeamDerrick, but I'm lost by the last post.
If we accept that studios are an ever shifting assortment of staff, and they are, why imbue the brand at all?
I keep wanting Valve to return to single player games, but why? They've lost their art director, all of their writers, Kim Swift isn't there for a new Portal. They're Valve, but not the Valve that shipped the Orange Box.
BioWare is just a brand. If you hold their work of a certain period dear, it's those staff that matter, not what name they worked under.
Infinity Ward made Call of Duty 4, but most of that team is Respawn now, despite the name still existing elsewhere.
If we accept that studios are an ever shifting assortment of staff, and they are, why imbue the brand at all?
I keep wanting Valve to return to single player games, but why? They've lost their art director, all of their writers, Kim Swift isn't there for a new Portal. They're Valve, but not the Valve that shipped the Orange Box.
BioWare is just a brand. If you hold their work of a certain period dear, it's those staff that matter, not what name they worked under.
Infinity Ward made Call of Duty 4, but most of that team is Respawn now, despite the name still existing elsewhere.
Its funny here seeing some optimism mixed with "ohhhh no I love Obsidian" and then seeing "fuck Obsidian they are trash anyways" over at the Codex.
I remain cautiously optimistic, them being able to continually make games is good news for me as I enjoy their recent output but if they ship a couple dumbed down third person quasi RPG's ill bury them right next to Bioware.
Also, are yall unfamiliar with Derrick? Hes not shitting on you personally this is just his thing.
I remain cautiously optimistic, them being able to continually make games is good news for me as I enjoy their recent output but if they ship a couple dumbed down third person quasi RPG's ill bury them right next to Bioware.
Also, are yall unfamiliar with Derrick? Hes not shitting on you personally this is just his thing.
The overall takeaway I get from here is that CRPG's are still really niche. I mean, aside from D:OS2 I can't think of a single title that has done well. There might have been some hope that hte CRPG ren was something that was truly here to stay but reality's a mother sometimes. Obsidian was never going to survive making games that sold 110k or so. The question in my mind is what Avellone said about Obsidian enough to make sales of Pillars 2 tank? Probably not, but the CRPG community is actually small enough that maybe it did some damage. On the other hand, are we just witnessing a cooling off from CRPG's in general and Pillars 2 just released at the wrong time?
I'mma gonna have to get an Xbox aren't I?
I'mma gonna have to get an Xbox aren't I?
Valve never lost all of their writers, even when several of them left they still had Steve Jaros and Sheila Sadeghi. Jay Pinkerton also returned to Valve earlier this year.
Tactical squad based RPG would be probably ideal as something for the Pillars team to take a break on. Completely different aesthetic, turn based instead of RTWP, but still not the kind of thing you need a 400 person team for. Inspiration from x-com / mario rabbids / ghost recon 3ds, but probably using the isometric engine they've got as a base (or Unreal, I guess if they're shifting that way).
They have to make something other than a Halo RPG, MS have a bad enough rep for the last lot they bought, turning them onto servicing their existing IP. Catalogue breadth is what is needed.
Edit: I put "average" in there by accident, Obsidian obviously would carry quality to whatever they turn their hand to.
Edit: I put "average" in there by accident, Obsidian obviously would carry quality to whatever they turn their hand to.
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They have two teams no reason why can't be new IP and Halo RPG. Don't step on a dream, sir!
I remember this video from David Jaffe from around E3 this year when Microsoft announced that they acquired so many studios. He's onto something, aside from being of course an ex-Sony employee, I also think that it boils down to not just having the right talent or enough resources to fund your projects but the management and leadership in those teams to see it through. Microsoft should take note.
You're not wrong unfortunately. people are too attached to the companies without realizing that the companies that made the games you loved don't exist anymore.
Fucking hell this is tragic, your hate for all things Microsoft and Xbox is plain for all to see here. You'd rather the studio die than partner with Xbox, let that sink in for a minute. Like I said, tragic.
This. What is said on this video is the reason why we have games like Astrobot and God of War
I'm glad for Obsidian as at least they won't have to worry about staying afloat.
I do hope that if they have a pc release it'll be on steam.
Also while people are mentioning projects they hope happen, I would love to see Fable with Obsidian involved in some way. Choices and consequences are a good strength for them so it seems like it would be a good fit, but I wouldn't want it at the expense of the British style humour/quirk.
I do hope that if they have a pc release it'll be on steam.
Also while people are mentioning projects they hope happen, I would love to see Fable with Obsidian involved in some way. Choices and consequences are a good strength for them so it seems like it would be a good fit, but I wouldn't want it at the expense of the British style humour/quirk.
So profound. The most obvious advice I've ever heard. LOL
I mean go back to why some MS owned studios closed and had game delays and cancellations and it's one tale after another of mismanagement. It's something MS has hopefully corrected, but we will find out.
Phil's first move to rebuild first party was to appoint Matt Booty to head of Studios. Not only has he overseen the acquisitions, he has also been instrumental in growing their existing studios, all of whom have incubation teams now.
So to put it simply, MS is already doing what you're suggesting.
That is correct. No MTX at all, just regular expansions and timed events. It was at this time still clearly a "game as a service", imo.
I suppose Sea of Thieves is a good example too (though I haven't played it). Clearly a GaaS, but no transactions at all? not even need to pay for expansions?
Great clip from David Jaffe! What a guy.
I agre with this so much, MS needs to invest in great management and learn from Sony with this.
For as long as I can remember Obsidian has been struggling with the risk of closure due to their finances and nature as an independent studio, so this is certainly good news for them. I just pray that MS allows them to do their thing and does not end up shuttering them before they have had the opportunity to create a couple of games.
Stormlands became Tyranny AFAIK, and it's one of the most refreshing RPGs I played recently. Unfortunately the IP is owned by Paradox.
I don't think CRPGs do badly or are cooling down. Pathfinder: Kingmaker seems really successful and released ony a few weeks ago in a somewhat broken state. Both Divinity Original Sin games did well. I guess Wasteland 2 also did very well, otherwise we wouldn't have seen a Director's Cut and the announced sequel. Then these remasters of old CRPGs keep hitting (Planescape, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and recently Neverwinter Nights and Bard's Tale). And there are a lot of games coming. So there has to be some money being made.
It more seems like Pillars 2 didn't resonate well with the audience.
Yes, they salvaged what they could from Stormlands, and turned it into Tyranny, but it's a completely different game. I'm talking about the original concept of Stormlands, a shared-world RPG with big raids and seamless background matchmaking.
How big do we think Obsidian will grow to be?
Since I've heard about the acquisition rumours, I've been of the belief Microsoft should make it a priority to retain Obsidian's directors and grow the studio to a behemoth of 500 working on multiple IP.
Since I've heard about the acquisition rumours, I've been of the belief Microsoft should make it a priority to retain Obsidian's directors and grow the studio to a behemoth of 500 working on multiple IP.
I think we have different definitions of "really successful" if you consider Pathfinder Kingmaker that. It's doing well, especially considering that Owlcat have much less history than Obsidian, but selling a bit better than Pillars 2 is not really successful IMO. That's a really low bar to reach, as sad as that is because Pillars 2 is by all accounts an amazing game.
That being said - Owlcat are now one of the few studios left producing good CRPGs, and they are also trying to support Linux which is another thing we've lost (both InXile and Obsidian have been great with Linux support and honestly the thing I'm most sad about here). If you care about either of these things, it makes sense to support them.
As for Derrick's post - I agree with him 90% of the time, and even here from a consumer perspective there are definitely times when a dead studio works out better than one which was bought out and had its identity ripped apart by management.
That being said, I'm sure everyone working at Obsidian would prefer to actually have a stable job, so generally I don't agree with him here. If it really was a case of "This or we become another Telltale" then it's totally understandable, as much as I would've preferred them to be bought by nearly anyone else not named Sony or Nintendo.
That being said - Owlcat are now one of the few studios left producing good CRPGs, and they are also trying to support Linux which is another thing we've lost (both InXile and Obsidian have been great with Linux support and honestly the thing I'm most sad about here). If you care about either of these things, it makes sense to support them.
As for Derrick's post - I agree with him 90% of the time, and even here from a consumer perspective there are definitely times when a dead studio works out better than one which was bought out and had its identity ripped apart by management.
That being said, I'm sure everyone working at Obsidian would prefer to actually have a stable job, so generally I don't agree with him here. If it really was a case of "This or we become another Telltale" then it's totally understandable, as much as I would've preferred them to be bought by nearly anyone else not named Sony or Nintendo.
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Agreed.
I'd bet that most here acting as if they care about devs losing their jobs really just want Internet woke points. I think it's more idiotic to want a game developer to live on only to continue making bad games.
Especially when plenty of fantastic devs shut down or don't get the funding they deserve.
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I don't think these games will be popular on Xbox at all. Priority is big AAA RPG. Good exclusives.
Leaving aside my personal distaste for most triple-A games, I think "good exclusives" can be of any size. Triple A takes a lot of time and money, and I don't think it makes sense to throw away the expertise, technology and methodology these studios have built over the last couple of years to specifically build smaller scale RPGs. Regarding the genre popularity on consoles, we know MS is about to try pushing Game Pass just as strongly on PC.
I don't doubt Obsidian will work on triple-A games (they're working on one now!) but I truly hope they'll also be used to craft other types of experiences.
He will probably feel even more miserable in the coming years.
I can't really believe what I'm read here??
I hope you all joking
If Obsidian wants to do RPGs at a bigger level then they'd need most of that number to make just a single title.
I agree completely. No expertise should go to waste. But I think the priority should be AAA games for Xbox. And CRPG could be an nice extra. Time will tell. I think AAA just has more appeal to more gamers and they want more people using gamepass and x cloud.
This is very, very true and I'm often surprised by how powerful a brand name is to gamers and how completely willing gamers are to ignore the talent behind those games they loved. I mean, even here on ERA, people still want RARE to make a new Banjo, yet those folks that made Banjo haven't been at Rare for a long, looong time. So it'd kinda be like the company that owns the rights to the Beatles brand bringing out a new Beatles album with some new dudes that aren't John, Paul, Ringo and George. It'd be fucking bullshit and EVERYONE would see through it and frown upon it, but not so in games. In the games industry, this kinda stuff happens all the time and people fall for it.
Not to say it's always a lost cause, I'm a huge fan of Doom 2016, cause those folks understood what DOOM was all about and managed to make a new version of the game that does the original justice, but I think that's the exception, not the rule.
I'm excited for a potential successor to Alpha protocol.
Not a sequel or even with the same themes but a hybrid first/third person game where the RPG elements are front and center and blended with the action elements. Instead of the reverse. Where every game has tacked on choices and RPG lite elements sprinkled on their action games.
Cyberpunk looks like it will scratch that itch as well but more can't hurt.
Not a sequel or even with the same themes but a hybrid first/third person game where the RPG elements are front and center and blended with the action elements. Instead of the reverse. Where every game has tacked on choices and RPG lite elements sprinkled on their action games.
Cyberpunk looks like it will scratch that itch as well but more can't hurt.
That's what I'm assuming the plan is.
Cain and Boyarsky are working one IP now.
Sawyer is on hiatus and has said he doesn't want to go straight back to directing, but that might change now.
Heins last directed Tyranny, which released in 2016, so I'm assuming he's either helping Cain and Boyarsky or working on his own game.
There's a lot of talent at Obsidian with directing experience and capable of doing their own thing. If the aim to preserve their culture, then I suspect that won't necessarily change.
I agree with you and I think that is all because the game industry tends to be rather secretive and PR-heavy. There are only a select few individuals that are actually reckognized as individual people in the gaming industry from a consumer perspective. Game devs are generally just not thought of, or even outright dismissed as just cogs in a machine.
Consumers see companies behind games, not people. That's the gist of it. Part of that is that general knowledge about how hard it is to make proper games is not well known. They think "just make a sequel plss!!" without considering that the talent that made the original simply might have completely other interests by now, or that it's not financially viable, or that the staff simply has left or is put into positions where they don't have that much influence.
It's a question of "Why don't you just give us [insert title with idealized content]?". The work and process behind is not considered.