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Microsoft acquires Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment

anastielanastiel Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 246
in Off-Topic
Following rumors last week, Microsoft has announced that it has acquired Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity developer Obsidian Entertainment, as well as Wasteland and The Bard’s Tale developer inXile Entertainment.



Here is an overview of each studio, via Microsoft:

Obsidian Entertainment

Obsidian Entertainment was founded in 2003 in Irvine, Calif. by industry veterans from Black Isle Studios, led by Feargus Urquhart. The studio quickly made a name for itself with the Xbox exclusive Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Over the last fifteen years, they have delivered genre-defining RPGs to players on both console and PC through titles including Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Pillars of Eternity.

inXile Entertainment

inXile Entertainment is a team of industry veterans with decades of PC and RPG expertise. Led by Interplay founder Brian Fargo, inXile’s two development teams in Newport Beach, Calif. and New Orleans excel at creating vast worlds for players to explore with titles such as Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Bard’s Tale IV, and the upcoming Wasteland 3.


Read more at https://gematsu.com/2018/11/microsoft-acquires-obsidian-entertainment-and-inxile-entertainment#VgmBbQd4ts2kGOJ0.99


and the future for CRPG you liked this notice?

A Special Announcement from Obsidian Entertainment

InXile joining the Microsoft family
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Comments

  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    I don’t know what to think. I am in a holding pattern. I do not see what either of these two companies bring to the console market where XBox is getting trounced by both PS4 and the Switch for exclusive titles.

    It’s kinda good for PC, but then it sucks for Linux and Mac users who will no longer be able to enjoy those two companies games.

    I honestly don’t know what microsoft’s plan is here.
  • anastielanastiel Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 246
    I believe that with the new keyboard and mouse support, xbox will use this for CRPG games
  • ArdanisArdanis Member Posts: 1,736
    It's not like I had any particular interest in their recent games anyway.
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,963
    So they plan on focusing Inxile and obsidian away from PC and towards the console market? :/
  • anastielanastiel Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 246
    I believe that they will launch games in xbox one and in the market of windows 10 for pc support
  • DorcusDorcus Member Posts: 270
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80rHyABCb20
  • ShadowdemonShadowdemon Member Posts: 80
    Microsoft like EA are known to destroy their acquisitions after time so we’ll see how this plays out, but I’m not expecting good things after M$ management starts messing with them.
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    smeagolheart said:

    So they plan on focusing Inxile and obsidian away from PC and towards the console market? :/

    Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2, Torment, and Divinity: Original Sin were all ported to consoles. Very few games stay exclusively on PC anymore. Even Path of Exile and Grim Dawn are getting ports, following the lead of Diablo 3 no matter how much they tried to differentiate themselves from that title's accessibility.
  • Ludwig_IILudwig_II Member Posts: 379
    edited November 2018
    Such a sad news for crpg fans. The authenticity and the feel of the old school rpgs will be ripped apart, from not just 1 but 2 companies. Time for mourning
  • batoorbatoor Member Posts: 676
    Can't say I'm all that surprised anymore..Nothing lasts forever in the game industry. Bioware was bleeding to death for years and Obsidians had a rough go of it for like over a decade now.
  • DrHappyAngryDrHappyAngry Member Posts: 1,577
    Nooooo!

    You know it'll be like Bioware and EA. The quality of the stuff they had in production before they got bought will still be good, but everything after will just decline and then they'll be making MMOs.

    Thank the RPG gods that we have Owlcat now too.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    And thus the days of native linux support for Obsidian and inXile titles are now officially over....

    Well done, Micro$oft!
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    DrHappyAngry said:

    Nooooo!

    You know it'll be like Bioware and EA. The quality of the stuff they had in production before they got bought will still be good, but everything after will just decline and then they'll be making MMOs.

    Thank the RPG gods that we have Owlcat now too.

    I give you a like. When Owlcat makes a good game, I'll agree.
  • bleusteelbleusteel Member Posts: 523
    ThacoBell said:

    DrHappyAngry said:

    Nooooo!

    You know it'll be like Bioware and EA. The quality of the stuff they had in production before they got bought will still be good, but everything after will just decline and then they'll be making MMOs.

    Thank the RPG gods that we have Owlcat now too.

    I give you a like. When Owlcat makes a good game, I'll agree.
    I know you don’t like the timed quests in Pathfinder:Kingmaker, but I followed every path and did every quest during the first 90 day timer and still had 27 days left on normal difficulty. And that’s with 4 casters in the party (only Valerie and Amiri weren’t casters). That being said, it’s still a work in progress and I hope you give it a chance.

    On topic, I’ve backed every crowdfunded game Obsidian and inXile have produced but I have only managed to finish one - PoE. I hold out hope that these studios will one day be able to make something as engaging as P:K. I will continue to support them but my gaming time is so limited these days and they just haven’t put out anything worth my time. Luckily for them I have much more money than time :-)
  • DrHappyAngryDrHappyAngry Member Posts: 1,577
    ThacoBell said:

    DrHappyAngry said:

    Nooooo!

    You know it'll be like Bioware and EA. The quality of the stuff they had in production before they got bought will still be good, but everything after will just decline and then they'll be making MMOs.

    Thank the RPG gods that we have Owlcat now too.

    I give you a like. When Owlcat makes a good game, I'll agree.
    I know that Kingmaker isn't your cup of tea, but for me it's the best RPG that's been made in a long time. I think what throws a lot of people is that in a lot of situations, the game does not use a false sense of urgency. It breaks the mold that most people are used to for progression. Normally it's do all the sidequests before advancing the plot. Kingmaker does the opposite, when someone is telling you something needs to be dealt with, you better do it or could fail a quest or the game will start sending lots of events at your kingdom, like troll or undead attacks, until you take care of the problem. You still have plenty of time to explore and do all the sidequests, it's just that you should be doing them in between the major plot lines. Also, the game has been pretty buggy, but it's already much much better than when it was released and getting better still.
  • GrammarsaladGrammarsalad Member Posts: 2,582
    deltago said:

    I don’t know what to think. I am in a holding pattern. I do not see what either of these two companies bring to the console market where XBox is getting trounced by both PS4 and the Switch for exclusive titles.

    It’s kinda good for PC, but then it sucks for Linux and Mac users who will no longer be able to enjoy those two companies games.

    I honestly don’t know what microsoft’s plan is here.

    If wasteland 3 comes out on x box, I'm probably going to have to get one.
    ...

    I think that is the plan.
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    edited November 2018


    OMG... Pillars of Eternity 3/tyranny 2 will become a generic third person action adventure game with barely any RPG element left, just like Dragon Age becomes on DA2/DA:I... I really lost my hope from western developers. My unique hope is the eastern european developers. Only they are making good games like pathfinder kingmaker and they made good FPS too. Metro/Escape from Tarkov > Children's Online Daycare
    deltago said:

    I don’t know what to think. I am in a holding pattern. I do not see what either of these two companies bring to the console market where XBox is getting trounced by both PS4 and the Switch for exclusive titles.

    It’s kinda good for PC, but then it sucks for Linux and Mac users who will no longer be able to enjoy those two companies games.

    I honestly don’t know what microsoft’s plan is here.

    I play most on Linux and honestly Wine can run most games(except few modern games but i have dual boot), the problem is that PoE/Tyrrany/etc will lost all RPG elements and become soulless third person adventure games.

    ------------------------------------------

    To be honest, some old games, is easier to run on Wine than on M$ Operational system. I can run D2 only windowed on M$ SO but on Linux can run fullscreen.
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    Damn I hoped Obsidian will port PoE2 to PS4 eventually. Now it's rather a no-go :(
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    typo_tilly said:

    Ah. :/ I thought their games have been ok even if not great. I hope they continue patching their Linux versions for a while. I don't expect their new games to be released on Linux(...)

    Since a lot of people already purchased season pass and plays on Linux, at least PoE 2 will have support to Linux i GUESS. If i an wrong and obsidian continues to make good rpgs, then at least you can use wine. You can run even modern AAA high graphic demanding shooters like BF 5 on wine

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEDs7T13LPc


    -----------------------------

    Anyway, PoE 3 will be?

    A - A Kinect dancing game
    B - Third person action adventure with no rpg element
    C - Generic mmo""""rpg""""
    D - Mobile game
    E - Lootbox based arena hero shooter
  • megamike15megamike15 Member Posts: 2,666
    i'm in the minority here but i preferred obsidian more AAA crpg [ kotor 2 to new vegas] to their poe stuff. the spark just was not there they wanted to be bg and pst again but it just was not there.

  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    edited November 2018
    megamike15 said:

    i'm in the minority here but i preferred obsidian more AAA crpg [ kotor 2 to new vegas] to their poe stuff. the spark just was not there they wanted to be bg and pst again but it just was not there.

    New Vegas i liked; kotor i din't liked much but both games are EXCEPTION on "aaa" market, not the rule. AAA rpgs tends to have barely no RPG element. Look to BioWare, on past produced Dragon Age Origins, on present produced Dragon Age Inquisition and Anthem...

    I agree that PoE 1 was just a BG wannabe without the same in depth character creation/progression, but PoE 2 fixed a lot of problems that i had with the 1, subclasses, multiclasses, the ship customization mechanics are much more in depth than the fort customization mechanics on the first game and the enemies aren't spell spongees like on the first game(aka resisting multiple fireballs like was nothing compared to IWD where a fireball can kill a lot of weaklings). The high damage resistance is a problem in Tyranny but Tyranny have an AMAZING story.

    Other example is Blizzard. Compare Diablo 2 with Diablo 3. Diablo 2 is much more RPG like than 3. 3 is much closer to a generic mobile ammorpg, everything is %WD, no attributes, no skill progression, cooldowns, etc. If they make another fallout game(very unlikely), it will probably be much more close to Fallout 4(a shooter, not a proper rpg) than to new vegas

    TL;DR - The same "dumbing down" that you can see on DA:I compared to DA:O or D3 compared to D2, you will gonna see with PoE 3 compared to PoE 2/1...
  • megamike15megamike15 Member Posts: 2,666
    edited November 2018
    i really should have put AAA in quotes. there is a difference between AAA rpgs from 2003-2010 to the ones we have currently.
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    megamike15 said:

    i really should have put AAA in quotes. there is a difference between AAA rpgs from 2003-2010 to the ones we have currently.

    Well said. To be fair, the unique AAA rpg that i expect is Cyberpunk 2077(the launch date is probably on title)
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,668
    megamike15 said:

    i'm in the minority here but i preferred obsidian more AAA crpg [ kotor 2 to new vegas] to their poe stuff. the spark just was not there they wanted to be bg and pst again but it just was not there.

    Agreed. Despite there being so many good things on the surface to PoE, I have never finished it or could stand it for any length of time. I still can't point my finger on any exact reason. The magic just isn't there to draw me in once, let alone again and again like BG did.
  • DrHappyAngryDrHappyAngry Member Posts: 1,577
    New Vegas is on my list of best games of all time. I've got to agree that PoE 1 was pretty lackluster, it started good but the last chunk after leaving Defiance Bay just wasn't interesting, and I couldn't get into any of the DLC. I've finished it just once. I liked PoE 2 a lot better, though, better story and way more customization. I still haven't gone back to play the second one since the DLC came out, but think I managed to finish it 3 times before I put it down.

    I know I'm in the minority here, but Tyranny is my favorite game they've done recently. Quite a lot of customization, huge amounts of choices that impact the plot, interesting characters, great setting and best of all lots of replayability. My only complaint was that I wanted more. I think the evil thing was off putting for a lot of people.

    I'm still excited for Wasteland 3. I backed it. I don't think the acquisition will really affect it, since it's mostly done at this point. I'm worried about Wasteland 4, though.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    WarChiefZeke said:

    megamike15 said:

    i'm in the minority here but i preferred obsidian more AAA crpg [ kotor 2 to new vegas] to their poe stuff. the spark just was not there they wanted to be bg and pst again but it just was not there.

    Agreed. Despite there being so many good things on the surface to PoE, I have never finished it or could stand it for any length of time. I still can't point my finger on any exact reason. The magic just isn't there to draw me in once, let alone again and again like BG did.
    lack of urgency... main quest mystery felt like it was suppose to be canon and not something you were to solve... enemies having no purpose or story behind their placement, or their story being told later in the game (such as the wicht)… very few dungeon crawls... overly verbose dialog...
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    DrHappyAngry said:

    New Vegas is on my list of best games of all time. I've got to agree that PoE 1 was pretty lackluster, it started good but the last chunk after leaving Defiance Bay just wasn't interesting, and I couldn't get into any of the DLC. I've finished it just once. I liked PoE 2 a lot better, though, better story and way more customization. I still haven't gone back to play the second one since the DLC came out, but think I managed to finish it 3 times before I put it down.

    I know I'm in the minority here, but Tyranny is my favorite game they've done recently. Quite a lot of customization, huge amounts of choices that impact the plot, interesting characters, great setting and best of all lots of replayability. My only complaint was that I wanted more. I think the evil thing was off putting for a lot of people.

    I'm still excited for Wasteland 3. I backed it. I don't think the acquisition will really affect it, since it's mostly done at this point. I'm worried about Wasteland 4, though.

    In therms of Tyranny, my opinion is clear. Epic story, awful combat. Why i mean awful combat? Well, i an lv 8 at moment(stopped playing to play other games at moment), an spell who have 1min20 sec cooldown if i remember correctly deals just 60 damage with everything that i could do to increase his damage and most enemies have 200+hp, an melee attack from my highest DPS companion deals around 20 damage. So everything requires too much time to die. It makes my spells/shots/hits fell not powerful... Not mention, since most of your companions and enemies are humans, you will find yourself fighting the same enemy over and over again.

    After i complete other games i will complete tyranny because the story and decision making is amazing, but i really hated the combat. Not only have a long TTK but have cooldowns and cooldowns are a pretty boring mechanic. I like IWD/NWN because since everything can kill you pretty quickly, but you can kill pretty quickly and nothing have cooldown, so the game punishes mistakes and rewards with power feeling if you have a good strategy,

    For customization, I usually like to play with mythical creatures, vampires, liches, elves, half-dragons, dhampirs, etc, since they are different species with different cultures, it allow a lot of role-play opportunities. This is one reason that i like more M&M VII than M&M VI despite M&M VI having better story and dungeons. On M&M VII i can select 4 races and if i follow the evil path, i can become a Lich.

    For Pillars of Eternity, i din't liked how they handled attributes, i mean, Might increases melee, ranged and casting damage? Even a dumb 5 IQ being able to cast high tier magic? And how the wizard have access to less interesting spells than D&D, but loved the cipher class. Is very similar to Psion but at the same time more unique http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/psion.htm
  • DrHappyAngryDrHappyAngry Member Posts: 1,577
    Once you have a really good handle on the magic, you'll just immobilize and fry mobs of dudes in that game. I actually like that people don't just go down with one hit, though. For me, the fact that it was a mostly human setting felt refreshing.

    I know, I absolutely can't stand how PoE handled attributes. Every single build is max might and the other stat your class uses. No variability. At least Kingmaker the rogues can do damage based off dex and casters depend on wis/int/cha with maybe dex to hit sometimes. It means not everyone has the same attribute spread.
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