Obsidian Entertainment - Microsoft Acquisition Rumour

Kotaku believes that Microsoft and Obsidian are in the final hours of negotiating an acquisition.

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.

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Doesn't seem like good news for gamers. Probably good for the owners though. Do you suppose we'll see a mass exodus?

Not enough Obsidian buyout threads. Very disappointed.

Originally Posted by rjshae
Doesn't seem like good news for gamers. Probably good for the owners though. Do you suppose we'll see a mass exodus?

I imagine a slow drip over time.

Bioware: the sequel, here we come!

Maybe I'm being too pessimistic, but doesn't sound good.

Originally Posted by Arkadia7
Bioware: the sequel, here we come!

Maybe I'm being too pessimistic, but doesn't sound good.

Microsoft isn't EA.
In fact, as far as I can tell, Microsoft is pretty hands off with their studios. They don't necessarily found the best games, but UNTIL OBSIDIAN DOES A TURN BASED GAME I DON'T CARE MICROSOFT GET ME AN OBSIDIAN TURN BASED GAME ALREADY GOD DAMN IT!

I said in the first of these threads many moons ago that MS is a weird beast when it comes to acquisitions. If Dungeon Siege is any example they have a tendency to spin off studios that they think they can't do anything else with so even if Obsidian fails in this, it might not be the death of them.

At the same time, the company gets some stability, at least temporarily, and the employees get to pad their resumes with the word "Microsoft" on it.

Will we get another Stormlands? I'm suspecting those people are not involved in this buyout because there would be bad blood - it would show how large a company MS is. (Stormlands became Tyranny, btw, so we're not likely to see another one).

Originally Posted by Ripper
Not enough Obsidian buyout threads. Very disappointed.

I already contributed two. Much spam I know.

Meanwhile at Microsoft HQ:

Obsidian: "That was never the agreement. You said we could continue to use Windows 7!"

Microsoft: "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further …"

I'm also patiently awaiting a turn based Obsidian game. I learned some time ago to not hold my breath during the wait.

When's the "Obsidian Entertainment - Square Enix Acquisition Rumour" coming?

Not sure if people know this already but Anthony Davis and Richard Taylor left for Blizzard. Both were working on Indiana (Lead Programmer / Lead Producer).

Never head of them but doing a google search Anthony Davis left in 2011 after 7 years
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http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index…bsidian.66381/

Originally Posted by Silver
Not sure if people know this already but Anthony Davis and Richard Taylor left for Blizzard. Both were working on Indiana (Lead Programmer / Lead Producer).

@you
Anthony returned for a period recently and then departed again. Must of been the lure of working with Tim and Leonard to help their project.

Excellent news for the developers, their families, the children now can go to better schools, have high quality healthcare. Very bad news for the gamers.

Kind of amusing actually, after all the trash talk, Avellone bailed just before Obs is getting rich.

The rumor mill. One of the recent rumors was that MS tries to buy EA, Ubi and Valve….

Until this is officially confirmed, no point into add more fuel.

Originally Posted by wolfsrain
The rumor mill. One of the recent rumors was that MS tries to buy EA, Ubi and Valve….

Until this is officially confirmed, no point into add more fuel.

Thats not how online social interaction goes…

Originally Posted by Wisdom
Thats not how online social interaction goes…

Well I've seen rumors proved true before just not as much as the false ones.

Anyway we have three different threads discussing this rumor already.

I would love to see a TB game from Obsidian, but there's zero reason to expect it. They've had success with their current model, why would they change? I particularly think they're unlikely to risk changing the model right after being taken over by Microsoft.

Hey Obsidian Guys!
While negotiating the acquisition, do say HELLO to the (late and great) Rare Studios and Lionhead Studios!

These fine people were just as happy as you are now when Microsoft bought them for mighty dollars -- and there were none.