According to sources near the deal, Kotaku report that Microsoft are simply shy of sealing the deal on buying prolific RPG studio Obsidian Entertainment. According to Kotaku’s sources, issues have proceeded far sufficient to make it “a matter of when, not if”. Obsidian are not too long ago notable for the Pillars Of Eternity collection – a throwback to Baldur’s Gate model party-based roleplaying – however have produced some wonderful games over time. While tough, Fallout: New Vegas stays my favorite Fallout game, and I’m curious what Microsoft may have deliberate for the studio.
If Microsoft do find yourself shopping for Obsidian, I can solely hope that they permit the studio to do extra of their traditional factor however with the form of finances that solely a mega-publisher and platform-holder can present. After being burnt by publishers and a few notably unhealthy offers, Obsidian took to crowdfunding for each Pillars Of Eternity games. Along with studios comparable to inXile (The Bard’s Tale 4, Wasteland 2 & 3), they’d been advised there’s no cash in old-school RPGs. Years of resurgence and rumours (through SE7EN.WS & Brian Fargo) of Baldur’s Gate Three in improvement indicate in any other case.
While simply my intestine feeling, it looks like Microsoft are repositioning themselves to return on the games market from a unique angle. The Xbox One, whereas first rate sufficient, performed second fiddle to Sony’s PlayStation Four for a very long time, and wasn’t till the Xbox One X that they’d any form of {hardware} benefit. By then, most probably unique studios had signed with Sony, and Microsoft have been feeling round for a brand new strategy, together with stuff just like the Xbox Game Pass subscription (together with PC games) and their not too long ago introduced game-streaming service xCloud.
While Microsoft’s insistence on utilizing the Windows 10 retailer is irritating, their choice to make Xbox and PC successfully a single platform largely works within the favour of PC-only people – we’re getting the subsequent Halo, and I can’t consider any purely Xbox console-exclusive titles on the best way. Microsoft have been buying loads of vibrant expertise currently together with Hellblade studio Ninja Theory. Obsidian is an fascinating choose, contemplating the studio and writer had a falling out over the cancelled Stormlands (see Eurogamer) in 2012, suggesting issues have modified behind the scenes.
