Obsidian Entertainment - known in recent years for titles like Grounded, The Outer Worlds - recently revealed the studio was approached by another publisher, prior to joining Microsoft.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Obsidian's studio head, Feargus Urquhart, revealed how "another major publisher" proposed the acquisition.
"We were approached by another major publisher, and I was having lunch [with] one of the main people at the publisher, and they said 'well have you ever thought about being acquired?', I said 'yeah, of course,' and then what they ultimately said was 'well we're just having a real hard time hiring people'..."
Urquhart went on to explain how this publisher wanted to acquire Obsidian and move staff across to their own game, which they were apparently struggling to hire people for. In the end Obsidian declined the offer, with the studio head stating how a deal like this has to be the right "cultural fit" and needs to have people with who you can "sit down and have a beer with".
In the end, Obsidian was obviously acquired by Microsoft in 2018 - and the team is now hard at work on The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed. Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition has also got many fans excited about Obsidian perhaps one day returning to the Fallout series. It previously released Fallout: New Vegas on Xbox 360 in 2010.
Are you glad Obisdian signed on with Microsoft in the end? What do you think of its recent releases? Looking forward to Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2? Leave a comment down below.
[source youtu.be, via gamesradar.com]
Comments 18
I wonder if that other publisher was sony? Sounds like something they would do or that Chinese publisher i forget the name of that has the likes of deep sliver
It sounds like they'd have dismantled Obsidian to boost development of their games, so very glad they said no as doubt it was anywhere near the quality Obsidian puts out
Sounds like Activision
Yeah, that's an absolute negative. Obsidian are good at what they do, and need to be left alone, other than given a good budget and creative freedom. That's what Microsoft seems to want to do, but only time will tell.
Ay this point, even a New Vegas remaster would break the internet for a day.
@RedKnight34 You're probably thinking of Tencent.
@RedKnight34 deep silver is part of the Embracer Group, pretty sure there's no chinese connection to be found.
Edit: except the paid for epic exclusives on pc.
Even Sony fans would have to be happy they got bought by Microsoft after this. Even if you don't get to play their games anymore, it would have been horrible if they got bought and then dismantled.
So, obviously I'm happy they got bought by Microsoft, especially since I also have a Series X. Avowed is also one of my most anticipated Series X releases (even more so than The Outer Worlds 2).
@dont_simp_for_them
Yup was tencent ty
@RedKnight34 Tencent?
Sounds like EA to me. Get Obsidian on board to help with BioWare projects. They have Dragon Age and Mass Effect cooking simultaneously, so they could probably use more RPGs. This news is why I’m not surprised that The Initiative is outsourcing to Crystal Dynamics. There is only so much talent available. Who would they hire? A bunch of fresh out of college rookies? Sounds dangerous to place what is to be a premiere game in the hands of a bunch of unproven talent. Let The Initiative upper management make design choices, and let the talented devs at CD make that vision come to life.
So glad they with the power of X
I'm guessing EA (finishing what they started with Bioware), and obsidian is already familiar to some extent with the bioware ips and style. Activision (that's literally all they do).... Maybe Warner, they seem to always be undersized. Not ubi, not their style or wheelhouse. Not Sony either. At one time square would be it, but they seem to have lost interest in their western studios, even the ones they already own. I doubt they'd want more these days. Probably not 2k, I'd think they wouldn't struggle to hire.
@RedKnight34 unlikely Sony, it doesn’t fit as they don’t usually have an issue getting top line staff. Amazon, Tencent, Activision etc. FAR more likely
It could’ve been Panera. I went there to pick up my order earlier and they told me they didn’t have enough employees to open the drive through or make soup today.
I’m happy that it was Microsoft that acquired Obsidian. It feels like righting the wrong of not acquiring BioWare back when they were making Xbox exclusives. I don’t know if Microsoft was ever in actual talks to acquire them, but it felt like a good fit at the time. Now Microsoft has a few great western RPG studios under their umbrella, and they’re even building a new one at Playground.
@somnambulance Their employees are bread not hired
Other than MS, the only other company I know of that's been making lots of purchases of random studios is the Embracer Group.
@RedKnight34 Given their history, most likely Tencent. They've been trying to buy and own as much gaming related media as possible.
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