- Joined
- March 10, 2009
- Messages
- 255
When we look at the so-called 'AA' RPG revolution over the last 5 years, InXile and Obsidian have blazed the trail and been the vanguard. When news of these acquisitions was announced, my gut reaction is that choosing these two companies is no accident. I don't believe we will see any immediate change, and in the short term (over the next 5 years or so), I'm hopeful that we will benefit with some good-to-great RPGs.
My biggest concern, however, was that this isn't due to some corporate strategy or vision, but rather is the brainchild of one person within Microsoft who happens to know what deep RPGs are supposed to look like, and has risen high enough to have some influence to pull this off. And Fargo has basically confirmed this in the interview. The problem is that as soon as that person gets promoted, or moves to another division, or leaves the company, that's when things will start to fall apart. We've seen it happen countless times.
In the end, I do believe this acquisition is a net positive. I think it has delayed the downfall of these two studios by 5-10 years, and given the poor sales of recent titles, their downfall may have been more imminent than we think. But make no mistake: This is still the beginning of the end. I just hope we get a few more decent RPGs out of it before the corporate bureaucracy comes crushing down.
My biggest concern, however, was that this isn't due to some corporate strategy or vision, but rather is the brainchild of one person within Microsoft who happens to know what deep RPGs are supposed to look like, and has risen high enough to have some influence to pull this off. And Fargo has basically confirmed this in the interview. The problem is that as soon as that person gets promoted, or moves to another division, or leaves the company, that's when things will start to fall apart. We've seen it happen countless times.
In the end, I do believe this acquisition is a net positive. I think it has delayed the downfall of these two studios by 5-10 years, and given the poor sales of recent titles, their downfall may have been more imminent than we think. But make no mistake: This is still the beginning of the end. I just hope we get a few more decent RPGs out of it before the corporate bureaucracy comes crushing down.
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
- Messages
- 255