Its official.This old good game devs are gone to Microsoft.Sad. "Together, the two new studios bolster Microsoft Studios to now include 13 distinct and diverse game development teams. We’re focused on implementing new Microsoft technologies, delivering content for new platforms and services like Xbox Game Pass, and creating exclusive games that turn players into loyal Xbox fans. We are committed to expanding the Microsoft Studios franchises players already love, and investing in new, exclusive content for every type of gamer. It is a genuine pleasure to welcome Obsidian and inXile to the growing Microsoft Studios team and work with them to deliver bigger and more ambitious games for their fans. I’m excited to see the teams maximize their potential at Microsoft and can’t wait for what the future has in store." https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2018/11/10/obsidian-inxile-join-microsoft-studios/ Obsidian recent games: South Park: The Stick of Truth Pillars of Eternity Skyforge Tyranny Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire InXile recent games: Wasteland 2 Torment: Tides of Numenera The Mage's Tale The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep Wasteland 3 (2019)
Dunno how this will go. MS could be pretty hands off, obsidian makes good to great games, QA is usually an issue, maybe the can help them debug their games better. Or they could micromanage everything, insist they push "games as a service" and microtransactions abound. Who knows. Lot of the top people have left obsidian in the last few years, the studio has a "progressive" bent anymore, We see how this effects their games going forward. I tend to lean toward they will be pretty hands off and just want them to crank out games for their xbox platform.
With the exception of Halo, which may change, all exclusive Microsoft published Xbox One games are available on PC as well. The only negative really about this news is that these games would be distributed via Microsoft's terrible Store and, thus, forced to pay whatever price they charge for the game.
Oh there will be games, not commenting on their quality though. But I strongly suspect, they're trying to push their windows store with such measures.
I am not a fan of Microsoft's Store. While I don't mind having another client, the Store's games tend to perform worse, thanks to the weird xbone emulation. We'll see, I guess, but I'm not happy about this.
RIP Obsidian. There goes one of my few reasons to keep gaming. Considering Microsoft's track record with the own primary product that's not an encouraging thought.
The truth is Obsidian last games didnt sell well,Pillars 2 is not so good vs e.g. Divinity: Original Sin II.
I can't judge that statements on its merits but I feel it's largely besides the point. Personally I've enjoyed both PoE 1 and D: OS 1, though the former more so, but have as of yet played neither of the sequels (despite owning both). It's not about personal preference though, I'll definitely buy what you're saying as a reason for why Obsidian got acquired by Microsoft in the first place but the end result is a significant diminishing of the kind of games I enjoy playing regardless of the reasons. Sure, it's selfish of me to look at how it's likely to impact my gaming rather than strictly from Obsidian's standpoint but I reckon I'm allowed to lament the, likely, end of an era. The wounds inflicted by BioWare turning to poop (DA: 2 and onwards) are still fresh for me.
It is really hard to speculate at this point. Microsoft said they are giving full creative freedom to the studios they acquired. And if that is true, we can expect great things, since Obsidian having really hard time with their finances. Now they have the funds. We will see how it goes.
Probably the best possible thing for Obsidian. They were heading nowhere fast, leaking talent in the one area they were supposed to be good at, writing.
