Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian

[Wrath2X]

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1049713708564398082

Has been rumored for a while now so there you go

[Great Rumbler]

[Nintex]

This is all fun and games until Phil leaves and some sucker who has no clue about gaming takes over.
That's what happened last time too. Cool people bought nice studios. Then the suits came in and fucked everything.

[Raist]

This is all fun and games until Phil leaves and some sucker who has no clue about gaming takes over.
That's what happened last time too. Cool people bought nice studios. Then the suits came in and fucked everything.

Spencer was head of EMEA until 2008 (so responsible for Rare and Lionhead) and then head of MS studios. He doesn't need anyone else to run studios into the ground.

[mormapope]

I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

Forza Horizon 4 just came out and its one of the beloved racing games in quite some time.

The bore is more negative about ANYTHING Microsoft does moreso than Sony/Nintendo famlnboys on Era. You'd think the Xbone was a form of malware based on how people react.

[tiesto]

Well, that sucks. Doubt you'll get your 90s style crpgs anymore, I expect them to go the Bioware route now.

[mormapope]

Well, that sucks. Doubt you'll get your 90s style crpgs anymore, I expect them to go the Bioware route now.

It really sucks that a studio that has had terrible financial problems is being bought out?

[Rahxephon91]

I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

Forza Horizon 4 just came out and its one of the beloved racing games in quite some time.

The bore is more negative about ANYTHING Microsoft does moreso than Sony/Nintendo famlnboys on Era. You'd think the Xbone was a form of malware based on how people react.

Yeah the Forza games are good. No question.

But I kind of need more then just Forza every year.

[Himu]

NOOOO

[mormapope]

I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

Forza Horizon 4 just came out and its one of the beloved racing games in quite some time.

The bore is more negative about ANYTHING Microsoft does moreso than Sony/Nintendo famlnboys on Era. You'd think the Xbone was a form of malware based on how people react.

I hear the Forza Horizon series is great but what I mean is anything outside the Halo/Gears/Forza label.

Last thing I liked from them might have been Quantum Break? Software wise i just don't find much appealing from them. Sorry if the rustles your jimmies

"The stuff coming from Microsoft lately is trash."

"Forza Horizon 4 is an excellent game!"

"But I don't mean Forza."

 

[Nabbis]

Microsoft is by far the shittiest of the three. Can't remember the last time i gave a fuck about their games, probably Age Of Empires 2 and Halo.

That said, i think Xboxonex is a very good piece of hardware and they have more going for them than Sony or Nintendo on that front. If only they had games i gave a fuck about.

[Himu]

Fuck. This is awful news. There's no hope for a Fallout 4: Actually Good Version.

I'm really devastated. Obsidian was the only wrpg company that hadn't sold out and stuck to its roots instead of dumbed down crap.

[kingv]

But we’re getting 76 :-(

[Nintex]

Games take a while to develop. MS's late 360 era arson on their own first/second party studios like Bizarre Creations, Rare, Lionhead set them behind years when this gen started.
Spencer then scrambled to create new studios but just putting competent devs together in a room clearly wasn't enough.

However his biggest win has been to get higher into the MS executive chain and basically secure the future of the Xbox division that they were planning to sell to Amazon just a few years ago.
Microsoft stripped down their Xbox division so they could sell it but no one wanted to buy Xbox and in the end they didn't really want to part with it either.

The new CEO finally ended the uncertainty and decided to go 'all in' on Xbox.

[Brehvolution]

Pillars of Eternity III: Minecraft edition

[Himu]

But we’re getting 76 :-(

isn't that a player unknown clone

[Himu]

why wouldn't it be bethesda Beth respects the Obsid and would likely give them leeway and even share staff for projects. That's the dream. Fuuuuuck.

[Kara]

Live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse. Troika did it right.

[Bebpo]

No, no, no, no, no, fuuuuuuuuuck

There goes the only crpg developer I really like ;_;

[Himu]

No, no, no, no, no, fuuuuuuuuuck

There goes the only crpg developer I really like ;_;

I know!

[Bebpo]

This is also insane considering they almost went out of business because MS canned their Xbox One launch rpg that they later salvaged into Tyranny.

Like last time you depended on MS they fucked you and you almost lost the company and had to scramble with kickstarters & russian tank games just to survive. Why would you trust MS again? Did Pillars 2 sales tank outside Kickstarter or something?

[MMaRsu]

well fuck

[mormapope]

Fair, but it's also fair to point out that you mentioned one game. What's the rest?

And would you say the low opinions of MS as an overall game publisher are unwarranted?

The opinons of Microsoft are often stuck in 2014 or during the dismal, garbage Kinect era. Has Microsoft leadership been shitty in the past or  been mismanaged to the point of hurting game studios? Yes! Have the past couple years seemed turbulent for studios working with Microsoft? Not really. Most devs seem pretty satisfied when working with Microsoft nowadays.

As for all Xbone exclusives in general, its lacking. Is that because of Microsoft currently, or because of terrible terrible decision making from that 2010-2014 era of Microsoft?

I basically view the Xbone in a very similar light as the PS3. Absolutely god awful launch and decision making, the entire gen being used to fix past mistakes.

[Himu]

No. All I know is that it's superior.

[Rufus]

I have no feelings about this one way or another. Cautiously excited to see what they do with a big budget.

[MMaRsu]

Fair, but it's also fair to point out that you mentioned one game. What's the rest?

And would you say the low opinions of MS as an overall game publisher are unwarranted?

The opinons of Microsoft are often stuck in 2014 or during the dismal, garbage Kinect era. Has Microsoft leadership been shitty in the past or  been mismanaged to the point of hurting game studios? Yes! Have the past couple years seemed turbulent for studios working with Microsoft? Not really. Most devs seem pretty satisfied when working with Microsoft nowadays.

As for all Xbone exclusives in general, its lacking. Is that because of Microsoft currently, or because of terrible terrible decision making from that 2010-2014 era of Microsoft?

I basically view the Xbone in a very similar light as the PS3. Absolutely god awful launch and decision making, the entire gen being used to fix past mistakes.

What games do they have that fixed their mistakes? From UC2 on, PS3 was absolutaly on fire with its exclusives

[Bebpo]

I have no feelings about this one way or another. Cautiously excited to see what they do with a big budget.

They made one!
For MS!
And MS canned it!

Not sure why it will go better the second time...

If I had to bet, I’d bet they never get a big budget game out for MS before MS shuts them down.

[Kara]

No. All I know is that it's superior.

Their agreement had performance bonuses tied to review aggregator site averages so despite selling well they only received the minimum compensation for their work because its average review score was 85% or something.

[Bebpo]

No. All I know is that it's superior.

Their agreement had performance bonuses tied to review aggregator site averages so despite selling well they only received the minimum compensation for their work because its average review score was 85% or something.

And they missed it by like 1% :/

[eleuin]

Aren't most of the key people who worked on NV gone from obsidian anyways

[Himu]

No. All I know is that it's superior.

Their agreement had performance bonuses tied to review aggregator site averages so despite selling well they only received the minimum compensation for their work because its average review score was 85% or something.

beth you fucking hacks

[Kara]

And they missed it by like 1% :/

Hard to feel bad about it when they insisted on having a faction where people spoke Latin with approximately Classical pronunciation instead of optimizing it more.

[Rufus]

If I had to bet, I’d bet they never get a big budget game out for MS before MS shuts them down.

I'm optimiscally assuming that MS won't mismanage Obsidian and their other recent acquisitions.

We'll see how that turns out.

[Fifstar]

I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

Forza Horizon 4 just came out and its one of the beloved racing games in quite some time.

The bore is more negative about ANYTHING Microsoft does moreso than Sony/Nintendo famlnboys on Era. You'd think the Xbone was a form of malware based on how people react.

360 was the most beloved console on here. Maybe Microsoft just made too many dumb decisions with the One?

[Rufus]

Aren't most of the key people who worked on NV gone from obsidian anyways

Josh Sawyer, its lead designer, is still there. For whatever that's worth.

Scanning the leads and writers at Mobygames tells me that Lead Writer John Gonzalez isn't with them any more. And Avellone obviously. But Eric Fenstermaker and Travis Stout, the other two credited as "writer" appear to be with them, still.

I also realized that I don't know enough about the game to assess how important  any of the people in the credits were.

[Great Rumbler]

No, no, no, no, no, fuuuuuuuuuck

There goes the only crpg developer I really like ;_;

Fortunately, there's still Larian and inXile making great RPGs, but Obsidian has always been my favorite of those developers and the possibility that they do a Bioware and their soul gets sucked out makes me so sad. Hopefully, I'm wrong and MS gives them the money and leeway to continue doing their own thing, but I'd be really surprised if that happened.

[Great Rumbler]

If it results in Alpha Protocol 2...

[Great Rumbler]

Sega's not doing anything with it, they'd probably sell it for a few bucks and a pizza.

[Himu]

Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2

i have never heard of these games.

[Kara]

SIE in next-gen

[Raist]

Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2

i have never heard of these games.

And nothing of value was lost.

[CatsCatsCats]

Lot of fan boy tears in here lol

[Great Rumbler]

Also, I get the impression Obsidian were in dire straits. So you'd rather them die as a studio then get picked up?

They were in serious trouble after having a major game cancelled in 2012 [by Microsoft, ironically], but Pillars of Eternity went a long way in helping them get things settled down. Dunno how things have been with Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity 2, but maybe they just weren't enough to keep the studio going on their own.

[thisismyusername]

They died when New Vegas, KOTOR2, and the like were rushed out/buggy as hell.

Avellone leaving was the final nail in the coffin. So if MS mandates them to be a UWP + X-box RPG house, it's "whatever" to me.

Basically:

MS needs a more high-profile studio to get me interested.

[Great Rumbler]

They died when New Vegas, KOTOR2, and the like were rushed out/buggy as hell.

They were better in the past 4-5 years than they ever were.

[tiesto]

Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2

i have never heard of these games.

First game is that Rare pirate mmo bereft of content, second I dunno, zombie shooter game I think.

[Bebpo]

They died when New Vegas, KOTOR2, and the like were rushed out/buggy as hell.

They were better in the past 4-5 years than they ever were.

Pillars was pretty damn great.

[Borealis]

I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

For his role in shuttering Ensemble, Spencer can eat shit for the rest of eternity. He's spent more than a decade now heading up various MS gaming divisions and still hasn't accomplished much.   

[benjipwns]

First game is that Rare pirate mmo bereft of content

not true, you do everything in that game, swim, shoot guns, sharks

[nachobro]

v excited for obsidian's first actual fully completed game in the history of the studio to release under MS. then it'll sell like shit and they'll be relegated to forza dlc until being shuttered.

but that one game is gonna be awesome.

[kingv]

First game is that Rare pirate mmo bereft of content

not true, you do everything in that game, swim, shoot guns, sharks

Is this hyperbole or have they added a bunch of kontent?

[Rufus]

v excited for obsidian's first actual fully completed game in the history of the studio to release under MS. then it'll sell like shit and they'll be relegated to forza dlc until being shuttered.

but that one game is gonna be awesome.

They got close. Dungeon Siege 3 was complete, bucked the bad QA trend and sold like shit, ending that franchise for the foreseeable future.

[Great Rumbler]

Dungeon Siege III also was pretty bland and forgettable.

[Kara]

Dungeon Siege III also was pretty bland and forgettable.

The steampunk city is one of the funniest places in an RPG ever.

[Rufus]

I barely remember it, so I'm with dogmod on this.

[El Babua]

Going through the Windows Store to buy any future Obsidian games.

[thisismyusername]

They died when New Vegas, KOTOR2, and the like were rushed out/buggy as hell.

They were better in the past 4-5 years than they ever were.

Let me look into the release list on that...

South Park: Stick of Truth, Wasteland 2 (assisted), Showers of Goblins: NeoGAF edition, Tyranny, and Showers of Goblins 2: NeoGAF shills harder edition.

Hmmm... two of those are alright. One borderline, but worthwhile? Nah.

Obsidian is at their best when 1) Chris is writing and 2) they're aping a style/engine that has already been used/done (KotOR, New Vegas [but to be fair there, anything would be better than Elder Scrolls with Guns and no Roleplay], Alpha Protocol).

Problem is, they're rushed, or have bugs (New Vegas is mostly not their fault though, given Beth jank/engine).

[Himu]

How tf does obsidian not have money considering they developed stick of truth and the sequel? Did all the money go to UBI?

[Great Rumbler]

They didn't develop the sequel and I doubt they saw much money beyond what it cost to make the game.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Not going to slob MS' knob here, but there's a bunch of cognitive dissonance happening in this thread. Their first party has been getting better and better. Maybe just not at the pace you guys want.

They also released Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 this year, which for some reason, people love.

Also, I get the impression Obsidian were in dire straits. So you'd rather them die as a studio then get picked up?

Or Sony buy them? because Sony's handling of their studios isn't great either.

Which first party lol

Obsidian is dead like Rare etc