Obsidian Entertainment - [Rumour] Acquisition by Microsoft
 

Games Technica reports on a rumour that Microsoft intends to buy Obsidian Entertainment.

More information.

Hmm I don't see it….

There are so many developers who are "better" than Obsidian out there and I would think MS will be eyeing them. I doubt anyone on xbox is demanding for Obsidian RPG…

I think that with the financial backing of Microsoft, we could see more big budget 3d action RPGs from Obsidian which would have more mass appeal.

Well if it results in ms store exclusive games I won't be buying it; otherwise not sure this is a bad thing.

If true, wouldn't Obsidian need to double in size to appeal to Microsoft, meet deadlines and produce true AAA quality games? At least? The more you dilute, the worse things get. I would think this would be about as devastating as BioWare selling out to EA.

Beside some RPG MS would not care about and a failed attempt at MMO tanks what would they bring?

I really hope this rumor is true and I hope Microsoft buys them.
Because xbone needs exclusives, desperately. With checkpoints only.

Isn't that new label from 2K helping them with the project?

I'm unbiased about this because now xbox games are coming to PC as well so I don't see them making exclusives.

Yes true but I just don't see Obsidian pulling off AAA release even with all the money MS can throw at them. There is certain rough edges to their games which I don't believe any kind of money can fix. I think its indication of others issues at Obsidian.

There are many indie games which deliver certain polish which is lacking in Obsidian games. If they are to move to the big league, they need this polish even in their current games but they don't have it.

MS these days seems to be very keen on PC games too. They are sort of "merging" xbox and PC from what I can see so a MS takeover of any developer is good news for PC gamers too and not just xbox gamers.

I will believe it when I see next game from Ninja Theory on PC based on another original idea, not some rehashed stuff.

:fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed: Please no, please no… :fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed:

It makes a lot of sense for both companies in spite of some of the past history. Obsidian has only ever been as (financial) good as their next game and MS needs reliable, talented studios. MS doesn't have a habit of nurturing those studios though and tends to drop them if things go unexpected. This could give Obsidian the finances they need for polish and promotion.

I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of KotOR type clone if this works out.

Say it ain't so…

On one hand I heard this rumor before and it was supposed to be EA. On the other hand if true Obsidian did work on a cancelled RPG for Microsoft a years back.

Only downside I foresee is Microsoft will push for their own Universal Windows Platform. So if you hate it now expect to see future Obsidian games on another client.

Don’t let MS fool ya. They’re into the Xbox not pc. Bringing straight ports to their walled garden windows store isn’t for the benefit of pc gaming. They want to turn PCs into glorified xboxes and pc gamers into Xbox gamers.

It’s not a mistake that you can’t uninstall the windows 10 Xbox app without hacking windows.

MS is probably more interested in mobile too and they can't be happy about the lack of quality the universal platform games have when being run on Windows. They can set the agenda better for studios they own. KotOR is a game that worked extremely well on both XBox and PC.

On a positive note, Obsidian sent me an email a few days back that my physical copy of PoEII is on the way!!!

Bout time I guess the update was correct last week.:celebrate:

I can hear The Million Dollar Man laughing right now.

It was only a few years ago that Obsidian almost went under because of MS pulling out of a deal. I guess if the owners are ready to cash out then this could be good for them, but as for the PC gamer well MS does not give 2 shits about them. As others have said they want all games in their walled garden of win 10/Xbox games as a monthly charge service.

Yea, it kinda really depends on the staff at Obsidian, and what happens with them. If the core group all sell out and leave the company, then it would effectively mean the end of the company as we have known it. If some or all of them stay on, then they might make some more good rpgs for Xbox and PC.

My biggest concern is Microsoft, in that they might force the games meant for the PC market to be windows 10 only, by making it only compatible with the newest direct x, or some other means…because you know how paranoid and how much of a hard sell Microsoft has done in their campaign to convert all pc owners to windows 10. That would leave me out in the cold because I will have nothing to do with windows 10.

It would be completely hilarious, if it's actually true.

I don't know why we're taking unsubstantiated rumors seriously.

Not to mention the headline and info is wrong. The rumor is that Obsidian sent a letter of acquisition to Microsoft, not the other way around. If you're going to pass off rumors as news, at least get them straight.

What the fuck is up with the Obsidian Ent hate?? If Pillars 2 isn't good enough, what developers do you not hate?! What, Larian? CD Projekt? Cuz, that's it for anyone making pillars 2 level quality RPGs… unless you go much more indie. I mean, damn, do you guys even play RPGs anymore? How would you have time to hate on every developer making RPGs if you were playing them?

And MS buying them would be horrid. I'm perfectly happy with what they're making now and I would rather buy a fantastic game with bugs than a mediocre, by-the-numbers game with no bugs. The latter is way too common IMHO. The very best RPGs all had bugs on release. Hell, Fallout 2 was bug heaven.

I’m no fan of MS either, but I must admit Windows 10 has been a rock solid OS for me and the few other computers I’ve installed it on.

Many of their old fans still feel burned from PoE1.

It's sad, because Deadfire is their most solid RPG yet, and Tyranny their most innovative.

It's not like you really have a choice. Windows 7 is EOL in less than a year and a half and at that point, it won't even be a supported platform for new software anymore. I mean, some stuff will obviously still work on it for a while, kinda like some stuff still works on WinXP, but it's really just a matter of time before you are on Windows 10. Makes more sense to just get it over with. Or, I guess, move to a different OS.

I still do feel burned by PoE and I still support them to hell. Sucker love? Maybe, but both games you mentioned seemed to prove me right. Though I still haven't touched PoEII, cause I maybe, just maybe someone will come along and fix part one…

Would be a shame if they were to be swallowed by MS, because they'd likely be lost to me forever.

That better be just a rumor!
Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Obsidian games are already released on Microsoft consoles. Pillars of Eternity, Fallout: New Vegas, Alpha Protocol, etc, all with Xbox releases.

There is a 0% chance Obsidian games will ever be Xbox exclusives. The PC market is their most important market. Maybe you mean they won't be on Sony or Nintendo machines…who cares? They barely sell on those platforms as it is.


Obsidian already has a publisher agreement: with Paradox. Unless you think Microsoft is buying Paradox (incredibly unlikely), this is a non starter.

Worst of all is that MS would force every employee to have windows 10 installed.

Obsidian cut ties with Paradox after Tyranny. Deadfire is published by Versus Evil, and their next game is funded by Take Two Interactive.

Thanks, that's (obviously) news to me. I had no awareness of Versus Evil's existence, despite being a Banner Saga fan.

Hey: at least it's not EA.

The Black Isle veterans still at Obsidian surely want to move on with their lives. Scrounging around for contracts and wondering if you're going to make payroll in 6 months is all well and good when you're a 30-something, but I'm sure most of these guys have had their fill of that several times over and want some stability with their families.

Good on them if they've finally found a buyer.

I would hardly say that Tryanny is there most innovative. I felt they did much better stuff previously. I'd mention a few but there are love hate relationships with a lot of their games and it isn't worth the effort.

I am curious how you determined that Tyranny is their most innovative - please share.

Tyranny was described by Obsidian as an experimental RPG, and introduced a lot of non-traditional features and concepts. Many of them made their way into Deadfire.

- Magic crafting
- Self-upgrading skills
- Dual reputation system
- Talent trees
- Wounds
- Afflictions
- Parry & Dodge
- Lore tooltips
- New game +
- Conquest Mode
- Missives
- Artifacts
- The setting itself

Keep in mind innovation isn't always positive. Tyranny suffered because of how experimental most of its features were, but I appreciated the innovation nonetheless.

This sums up everyone in this thread so far:

https://media.giphy.com/media/HUkOv6BNWc1HO/giphy.gif

@Caddy indeed :)

So, Obsidian - infamous contract workers - potentially get acquired by a partner with nearly infinite wealth.

Microsoft are so large they're not likely to bother micromanaging anything as small as Obsidian. They'll be happy if they get a decent return on any investment and let them have at it.

To me, this seems likely to be a win-win - except for the paranoid moaners who whine on principle.