Current Events > Obsidian Dev. thanks MICROSOFT! Nothing is changing quality wise, he PROMISES!

(+) Yeah! (+)

In November 2018, Microsoft announced the acquisition Obsidian Entertainment, the developer behind Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 - The Sith Lords. The studio has since expressed appreciation for Microsoft in the year following the acquisition, stating that being a part of Microsoft has provided an added level of security when it comes to making games.

"On the studio level, for me personally, one of the nice things is that now that we're a part of Microsoft, we're focusing more on what the next games are going to be, rather than, 'How do we pitch the next games?'" Obsidian senior designer Brian Heins said in an interview with Wccftech.

"When we were acquired, Microsoft's said to us, 'We're buying you because we want you to keep making games the way you've been doing, not to change you.'" he continued. "And that's been reassuring a lot of people on the team; we're not suddenly going to be asked to be a different studio than we have been. We have been given the assurance to keep making these games that our fans like--hopefully on a grander scale and better quality." It's a sentiment also expressed by Double Fine boss Tim Schafer, whose studio has also recently been acquired by Microsoft.

Obsidian is currently on track to launch The Outer Worlds on Xbox One, PS4, and PC on October 25 with a Switch release scheduled for later. A sci-fi choice-driven RPG, The Outer Worlds is a spiritual successor to Fallout: New Vegas. There's an added emphasis to player consequence in The Outer Worlds, though, encouraging you to replay the campaign more than once. Your choices can have far-reaching effects on the overall campaign, so your actions can create very different stories.

If you're grabbing The Outer Worlds, expect a massive day one patch for the physical versions of the game. On both Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, The Outer Worlds is enhanced to play in 4K.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/obsidian-can-focus-on-next-games-thanks-to-microso/1100-6470662/

Thank you Microsoft!

Never believe them when they say they won't try to micro manage. They will eventually.
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All of their bought studios are saying this. I suppose because it's all on Game Pass there's no real incentive for Microsoft to meddle as long as the content keeps coming. They need the variety on their service.

They specifically picked a whole bunch of developers who are used to working with small budgets and can bring out games rather quickly too. That's not a coincidence.
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Sure if they keep releasing hit after hit. However if Obsidian doesnt preform to the level Microsoft wants? Bye bye Obsidian.
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creativerealms posted...

Sure if they keep releasing hit after hit. However if Obsidian doesnt preform to the level Microsoft wants? Bye bye Obsidian.

If people won't even play Obsidian games included with their subscription the problem wouldn't be Microsoft at that point.
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The word is that Obsidian is already in development of their first game as a first party studio, after The Outer Worlds.

https://www.pcgamer.com/obsidian-are-hiring-staff-for-their-next-world-class-rpg/

Last week listings were posted on LinkedIn for 11 new jobs at Obsidian Entertainment, the developers of RPGs like Pillars of Eternity and Fallout: New Vegas. The job listings range from lead narrative designer to user interface artist.

Several of them mention understanding of Unreal Engine 4 would be a plus, as well as referencing "first-person melee combat gameplay", "combat with an emphasis on an exceptional first-person melee experience", and "combat actions utilizing both first and third person animations". There's also mention of "branching dialogue", "conversations and cut scenes", and "day/night cycles". They paint a picture of a game that's more like The Outer Worlds than Pillars of Eternity or South Park, although obviously job listing details are a long way from a finished game's features list.

The network programmer position mentions that "Obsidian is looking for experienced programmers to develop network and multiplayer gameplay systems using Unreal Engine." Online multiplayer support wouldn't be new territory for a game from the studio behind Neverwinter Nights 2, but it's certainly not what they're famous for. Other listings call the game they're hiring for "our next great multi-platform RPG", and given this would be their first project begun after Microsoft's acquisition of Obsidian both PC and Xbox are a given.

The Outer Worlds is due on October 25 and will be available on the Epic Games Store and Xbox Game Pass.

Microsoft just can't keep themselves from making everything multiplayer.

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Will Microsoft force Obsidian to release a finished game or will it be the same story that the publisher was the mean one and always at fault for the lack of a finished game when obsidian is making it
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Outer Worlds is the first Microsoft Studios game to come to PS4?
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L0Z posted...

Outer Worlds is the first Microsoft Studios game to come to PS4?
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Minecraft? Or was that before Microsoft bought it.
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L0Z posted...

Outer Worlds is the first Microsoft Studios game to come to PS4?
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Outer Worlds is a Private Division published game so not really.
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I was always under the impression that Microsoft took a fairly hands off approach to their acquired Studios, outside of maybe requesting a man dating sequels to there more successful titles.

What seems to happen more often than not, like it did with rare, is the acquisition itself causes a massive talent drain as everybody flees to go join other Studios, leaving Microsoft with the IP but basically none of the people who made it good.
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creativerealms posted...

L0Z posted...

Outer Worlds is the first Microsoft Studios game to come to PS4?
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Minecraft? Or was that before Microsoft bought it.

That was before, Microsoft keeps Minecraft on all platforms because at this point it generates a shit ton of money for them every month.
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s0nicfan posted...

I was always under the impression that Microsoft took a fairly hands off approach to their acquired Studios, outside of maybe requesting a man dating sequels to there more successful titles.

What seems to happen more often than not, like it did with rare, is the acquisition itself causes a massive talent drain as everybody flees to go join other Studios, leaving Microsoft with the IP but basically none of the people who made it good.

It depends on who is in charge and what period of time it is.

Bungie left Microsoft because they didn't want to make Halo anymore. Lionhead were forced to make Kinect games and Fable Legends instead of Fable 4. The developer who made the deal to make Phantom Dust had their budget cut and were then told to add single player. Obsidian had an exclusive Xbox One game cancelled on them years ago.

But things are pretty different now. 343 hasn't released a new game in 4 years because they're working on their engine for Halo Infinite. Microsoft are buying up studios and telling them to just keep making games. We've got some crazy ass Flight Simulator game that Microsoft wouldn't have thrown a penny at 5 years ago. Game Pass has fundamentally changed their business model as have the people in charge.

Of course if Game Pass is failing and the current bosses are gone things could suddenly change again. But for now they are in a good place.
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Darmik posted...

s0nicfan posted...

I was always under the impression that Microsoft took a fairly hands off approach to their acquired Studios, outside of maybe requesting a man dating sequels to there more successful titles.

What seems to happen more often than not, like it did with rare, is the acquisition itself causes a massive talent drain as everybody flees to go join other Studios, leaving Microsoft with the IP but basically none of the people who made it good.

It depends on who is in charge and what period of time it is.

Bungie left Microsoft because they didn't want to make Halo anymore. Lionhead were forced to make Kinect games and Fable Legends instead of Fable 4. The developer who made the deal to make Phantom Dust had their budget cut and were then told to add single player. Obsidian had an exclusive Xbox One game cancelled on them years ago.

But things are pretty different now. 343 hasn't released a new game in 4 years because they're working on their engine for Halo Infinite. Microsoft are buying up studios and telling them to just keep making games. We've got some crazy ass Flight Simulator game that Microsoft wouldn't have thrown a penny at 5 years ago. Game Pass has fundamentally changed their business model as have the people in charge.

Of course if Game Pass is failing and the current bosses are gone things could suddenly change again. But for now they are in a good place.

So tldr, the people with money finally figured out how to shut up and let the people with talent make them money.

Tsukasa1891 posted...

So tldr, the people with money finally figured out how to shut up and let the people with talent make them money

Pretty much. Thanks to Game Pass they haven't really had a flop for a while. Both Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 were big hits for them. If those games are successful Obsidian shouldn't have any issues. I think Outer Worlds is going to be their most played game in a long, long time.
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Is outer s going to be on gamepass?

L0Z posted...

Is outer s going to be on gamepass?

Yep. Day one.
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