Microsoft will buy Obsidian (apparently)

Cobra Commander

Cobra Commander

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Microsoft is finalizing a deal to acquire the independent development studio Obsidian Entertainment, according to three people briefed on the negotiations. We don’t know if ink is on paper yet, and plenty of major acquisition deals have fallen apart in the final hours, but those close to the companies believe it is all but done.

One person with knowledge of the deal told Kotaku they’d heard it was “90%” finished. Said a second person: “It’s a matter of when, not if.”

Obsidian, best known for its work on critically acclaimed role-playing games like Knights of the Old Republic II (2004) and Fallout: New Vegas (2010), has been independent since it was founded in 2003. The Irvine, California-based studio has long been beloved by RPG fans, but has often faced financial strains, nearly going out of business in 2012 before it signed a deal for an online tank game and launched a Kickstarter for the isometric throwback that would become Pillars of Eternity.

One compelling argument for the sale is that being owned by a company with deep pockets will offer Obsidian stability and resources the likes of which it has never had before.

https://kotaku.com/sources-microsoft-is-close-to-buying-obsidian-1829614135

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Holy cow. :o

Thoughts?
 
I am suspicious of it. But owners want to retire and now is the time to push for that.

Only lower quality games can come out of that, though.

Deadfire already plays a bit too liberally with some ideas. It has it's very good moments, like the BoW expansion, but I think it dumbs down the class designs a bit and tries to appeal to a wider audience through some weird mmo-like combat system that is reminiscent, at least to me, of the other PoE--Path of Exile. It also has these strange modern quips in writing, which is kind of weird when you talk about beings of immense power--such as the Gods... I don't want to pull the devil by the tail... but it does smell a bit more of cashy grabby than the first Pillars.

Stability will not make good games in the end... sorry.
 
Well, RIP. No chance at another Obsidian Fallout game, and like all studios acquired by Micro$haft will become ruined and pidgeonholed into the mobile market
 
I think it'll go down the same path that Rare did 15 years ago. In a decade, we'll probably see Obsidian putting out crap like Sea of Thieves.
 
Yeah, having more financial backing from one of the richest companies in the world doesn't mean they'll suddenly make better games. Just look at Rare, it went to shit when Microsoft bought it and i bet it happened to other companies that were bought by Microsoft as well.
 
Hope this doesn't tamper with the super duper secret project Tim and Leonard are working on. God Microsoft sucks
 
I guess Microsoft is trying to beat EA at being the king of buying companies and then discarding them when they seemingly aren't profitable anymore.
 
I think is good news :cool:

Maybe now the supposedly disastrous administration of Urquhart do not destroy the company once and for all.
 
Cobra Commander said:
I think is good news :cool:

Maybe now the supposedly disastrous administration of Urquhart do not destroy the company once and for all.
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Eh. Publishers generally try to make as much money as possible, and I don't really trust Microsoft to realize that Obsidian is a niche developer and to treat it as such.
Basically, I'm worried that in a decade or two we'll be discussing Obsidian the way we're discussing Fallout now.
 
Obsidian is a niche developer and to treat it as such
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I think they have the potential to be more than that.

And even if M$ puts the guys to work on the IPs of the house, they are all wonderful.

I'm ready any day of the week for an RPG in the Age of Mythology universe :cool:

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Cobra Commander said:
I think they have the potential to be more than that.

And even if M$ puts the guys to work on the IPs of the house, they are all wonderful.

I'm ready any day of the week for an RPG in the Age of Mythology universe :cool:

KdiqSCY.jpg
Click to expand...
However, the average gamer probably wouldn't be too interested in most of Obsidian's games.
For example, just look at Microsoft's games since 2015: 3 FPS's, 3 racing games, 1 TPS, a word puzzle game, a platformer, an action- adventure game, and a survival game. For the most part, these are audiences who would probably have very little interest in a CRPG.
So, while Microsoft obviously will want Obsidian to keep making RPGs, their idea of what the RPG should look like is probably closer to that of Bethesda's.

TL;DR: We're screwed.
 
Norzan said:
I guess Microsoft is trying to beat EA at being the king of buying companies and then discarding them when they seemingly aren't profitable anymore.
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Key word would be "trying". Nobody can beat EA.
 
Hopefully new upper management would fuck fat Urquhart's arse really hard every single day. He's deserve it.
 
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