Microsoft is finalizing a deal to acquire the studio Obsidian Entertainment, according to Kotaku sources.
Obsidian Entertainment was founded in June 2003 and has almost entirely focused throughout its history on making RPG games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Pillars of Eternity (and sequel) and Tyranny.
Sadly, last year the studio suffered from financial problems, even with the loyal fanbase that they have, which is one of the reasons why they started a Kickstarter for their original IP Pillars of Eternity and it’s sequel.
We are pretty sure that at the end of the day, Microsoft will end up acquiring the studio and work together with Obsidian Entertainment to bolster the Xbox’s first party line up of games and to ensure the good quality of their game development for the Xbox platform.
One compelling argument for the sale is that being owned by a company with deep pockets will offer Obsidian stability and resources the likes of which it has never had before.
“We do not comment on rumors or speculation,” said a Microsoft spokesperson.
“Unfortunately, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation other than to say that the Rumors album by Fleetwood Mac still holds up,” said an Obsidian spokesperson.
In late 2017, Obsidian announced that it was developing a new RPG that would be published by Private Division, a label of 2K Games designed to fund mid-sized games. The companies did not say anything about which consoles the RPG will be available on, and it’s not clear how this sale will affect that game. One option is for Microsoft to buy out the contract; another is for Microsoft to simply inherit it, allowing Obsidian to tie up its loose ends as part of the acquisition.
“While it is our policy not to comment on rumors or speculation, we look forward to publishing the upcoming RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, and remain confident in the team there to deliver an outstanding game,” said a representative for Private Division.
This would be a huge move for the company behind Xbox, which has been on a shopping spree this year, snapping up four game studios including Playground (Forza Horizon) and Ninja Theory (Hellblade). Its most recent notable game studio purchase before that was Mojang, the maker of Minecraft. Microsoft has kept Minecraft multiplatform, even enabling cross-play between Switch and Xbox One players, but console makers usually buy studios with the intent for those studios to make games for their consoles, not the competition. Microsoft’s biggest weakness this generation has been its stable of first-party developers, and with Obsidian, the company now has an RPG-focused studio that can help it compete against the PlayStation’s strong lineup.
A person familiar with goings-on at Microsoft said the company has been looking to bolster its PC development, which makes the PC-focused Obsidian a perfect fit.
Full Article At – Kotaku.
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