I wouldn't want Obsidian to waste their time on something as boring from a story perspective as Nintendo's IP.
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Obsidian open to being bought by another company, talks independent dev pains
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
I wouldn't want Obsidian to waste their time on something as boring from a story perspective as Nintendo's IP.
I don't think Obsidian's size is of their choosing, so much as what they need to survive as an independent contractor. When the big MS RPG got canned, they laid off a ton of people, so it's not like they're keeping people around because they have some ideal size they want to be at. They started hiring again when they needed the staff for... I think Skyforge? And that led to Armored Warfare eventually, which is where they are at now. If they didn't staff up, they wouldn't be able to get or retain these bigger contracts. These bigger contracts don't mean that they make more money from it in particular, just that as a service based MMO thing, it is more long term, rather than being a project with a fixed end date.
AcademicSaucer
Member
I'm sure the could give it depth if they are allowed to do so. All that is never happening tho, Nintendo even lost their partnership with Monster Games , they have little interest on Western devs.
jetsetnickradio
Member
In my perfect fantasy world these guys would be working with Bungie on Destiny, since Bungie has way too much work cutout for themselves and Obsidian could really help improve on the RPG aspects of the game and write an actually good story 
A lot has changed at Paradox over the past few years. Not only did they have a successful IPO listing (Tencent on board) and acquired White Wolf from CCP. They are also ready to explore the mobile space for some of their bigger franchises.
http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/377213/Wester+Grand+strategy+on+tablets+hopefully+within+1-1.5+years/
It's overwhelmingly played in Eastern Europe or among the types of audiences that never post on GAF.
I suspect they don't want to fund what would be their most expensive game ever with Obsidian.
Nintendo can make Obsidian kinda like Monolith i guess? Making their AA games but its member must still help Nintendo develop their other games like Zelda? That way, they can get the games they want and still stay alive.^_^
Edit: At first i thought Sega is the correct answer but seeing how their relation sour due to their latest collab, i don't think anyone want to visit that memories anymore.T_T
WaterAstro
Member
United Front Games was pretty much comprised of temporary contractors. I'm pretty depressed that UFG has disappeared after Sleeping Dog, then had this web game that got cancelled. Almost feels like that studio is pretty much gone.
There is no way a third party independent company doing AAA games can survive without getting constant contracts from publishers. Even a studio like Insomniac would not be around if they didn't have the reputation for putting out solid games.
There is no way a third party independent company doing AAA games can survive without getting constant contracts from publishers. Even a studio like Insomniac would not be around if they didn't have the reputation for putting out solid games.
CecilRousso
Member
*Microsoft - don't have confidence in them after previous developer purchases.
*EA - don't have confidence in them fter previous developer purchases, and they would probably be force to worked with either one particular franchise, or become a support developer.
*Bought by any Asian company - would probably be turned into a F2P or MMO developer.
*Ubisoft - probably just work with one franchise.
*Activision - can't see why they would be interested, and if they would be, they would probably turn Obsidian into a support developer
*Sega - Can see this work if Obsidian would continue to make PoE/Tyranny style game.
A CD Projekt/Obsidian alliance is the stuff of fanboy dreams, but I don't really see CD Projekt needing that.
*EA - don't have confidence in them fter previous developer purchases, and they would probably be force to worked with either one particular franchise, or become a support developer.
*Bought by any Asian company - would probably be turned into a F2P or MMO developer.
*Ubisoft - probably just work with one franchise.
*Activision - can't see why they would be interested, and if they would be, they would probably turn Obsidian into a support developer
*Sega - Can see this work if Obsidian would continue to make PoE/Tyranny style game.
A CD Projekt/Obsidian alliance is the stuff of fanboy dreams, but I don't really see CD Projekt needing that.
There is a lot of risk that Obsidian's creative talent would wither away, or be forced to, with most of the major publishers. This has happened time and time again. BioWare being an easy comparison. Designing for the mainstream will inherently lead to this, and that's what most publishers will want in return for their AAA funding.
Paradox is perhaps one of the few publishers that might work out though.
Paradox is perhaps one of the few publishers that might work out though.
In their current situation I agree, but in the perfect situation they should make AAA rpgs and get the time they need to actually finish it. KotOR 2, Alpha Protocol and New Vegas could've been huge game-changers, instead they are known to the general public as either "that disappointing sequel", "that buggy, forgettable game" and "the mediocre spin-off".
Perfect situations dont exist so it was never gonna happen.
You know that......Nintendo probably can allow them to make new IP like Xenoblade righttt?T_T
Sega...work? After Alpha Protocol colab? I would not bet on it.
Umm. i don't think that Monster Games making a single game outside of Nintendo platform= Nintendo is never going to partner with them anymore though.
It can be maybe Nintendo simply had zero project they can give them currently which is why Monster Games chooses to do other project to ensure they still receive revenue there.
CecilRousso
Member
New Vegas is know as what? Where? Can't see that being true even in the mainstream eye.
thomasmahler
Member
The problem is already in his first line:
Why in the world did you hire 200 people? Of course your burnrate is going to be insane and you do NOT need 200 people to make games like Pillars of Eternity.
If you have 200 people in your studio, you're not an indie or a mid-sized developer at all anymore: You're a full blown AAA house with a burnrate that's equal or higher than that of most AAA studios. So if you then don't make AAA games and land hits after hits, of course you'll get fucked.
If you wanna be a studio that makes games like Pillars of Eternity, fire 150 of your people and make it work.
Why in the world did you hire 200 people? Of course your burnrate is going to be insane and you do NOT need 200 people to make games like Pillars of Eternity.
If you have 200 people in your studio, you're not an indie or a mid-sized developer at all anymore: You're a full blown AAA house with a burnrate that's equal or higher than that of most AAA studios. So if you then don't make AAA games and land hits after hits, of course you'll get fucked.
If you wanna be a studio that makes games like Pillars of Eternity, fire 150 of your people and make it work.
Paradox, do it. Though this probably means no more KotOR 3 or Fallout games from them.
I had no idea Obisidian had developed an MMO tank game by the way, it's such a weird genreshift for them.
You wouldn't get those from them anyway. lol
Sega Europe has a strong PC focus, but mostly on strategy games. So that is more the reason I would think they are not interested.
Perhaps there is a reason why all three of those games are revered by RPG enthusiasts, and not by the mainstream. Perhaps there is a reason the mainstream seem to prefer the shallow Fallout 3 that focuses on set-pieces (theme park design), or the epic story of KotOR, reasons that go against the game design values placed in the Obsidian titles, and that wouldn't be solved by more money.
I have no idea. People are suggesting companies that would never even humor the thought of letting Obsidian work on anything like Pillars or resembling classic RPGs.I mean, I'd like triple-A RPGs from Obsidian, but not if that means I won't get more PoEs or Tyrannies ever again.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Crap, didn't know about this, figured since that series has a future at least Obsidian could rest a bit easier. Is the situation with KotOR similar? In the sense that a new game, if it happens (and now seems like a good time with the new films), would likely not involve them?
Oh, I've seen plenty of people refer to it as such or just neglecting it entirely because it didn't have a number at the end.
If there ever is a KotOR 3, BioWare is going to be making it. It's not entirely similar to the South Park-situation though considering the first game was also made by BioWare and Obsidian was only hired for the second game, while The Stick of Truth was an Obsidian game from the start and Ubisoft was only brought in later.
Some Nobody
Junior Member
I've always wanted a AAA RPG from these guys, and it sucks they're not getting the funding to make that happen. But off the top of my head I don't know any publisher that could give them the autonomy they need to make one happen.
This i agree. But i do see the main problem here. Obsidian wanted to make that AAA Rpg. So 200 people is a must there. But the problem is they don't had the money there.
If they are actually bought by a big publishers, then they won't had any fear as they will be assets for the new publishers here.
Which is why, if Nintendo actually really want to expand to the west, they may consider investing in Obsidian here. They are great devs for sure. They had experienced not only on AAA games but also AA games. If Nintendo would retooled them into Monolith Soft where they can still makes their AA rpg but they would help developing Nintendo other titles like how Monolith help developing Zelda or Retro Studios helping Mario Kart.
But all in all, this is all a dream lol. As Nintendo would not take this steps as they fear facing the same talent exodus Retro faced in the past.T_T
Sega Europe has a strong PC focus, but mostly on strategy games. So that is more the reason I would think they are not interested.[/QUOTE]
Yup. And Rpg have always been a much expensive games which i believe Sega would not want to waste their money on.
I think he meant it as in a big budget RPG game that reaches a lot of people. I don't think he actually meant that he wants to make PoE exactly like Skyrim.
That, and Obsidian already tried working with Sega and I think it was Feargus that referred to that period of time as one of the hardest in their company's history with Sega constantly hopping back and forth with what they expected for Alpha Protocol.
LouisaFerre
Member
Would SE give them enough freedom to work on more niche titles?
Duckroll, don't make a joke about mobile games.
Duckroll, don't make a joke about mobile games.
UnemployedVillain
Member
I can just imagine Nintendo's testers detroying Obsidian when it comes to finding bugs
thomasmahler
Member
I doubt any publisher would be interested in Obsidian at this point. With 200 employees, you have a monthly burnrate of about 2m USD a month. That's 24m USD a year, probably more if you add benefits and other things. So they need about 24m USD a year just to keep the studio running - That's absolutely insane considering the projects they're making.
I'd guess they already see that their upcoming games will not recoup their costs and that they won't be able to pay their bills. I doubt any publisher would want to take on a Behemoth like that with the history Obsidian has. The only reasonable thing their management can do is to fire two thirds of their employees and hope that the rest that remains can still make quality products.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Nintendo have MonolithSoft as their massive RPG, Scifi/Elder Scrolls inspired studio, and that franchise isn't exactly raking in the cash.
I think over half of those employees are working on Armored Warfare exclusively. Since it doesn't look like it will be closed down anytime soon, and Russian companies seem happy to keep paying the bills, it's not a huge issue. People tend to forget that there are business models that exist beyond the scope of what GAF talks about day in day out. I don't really see the appeal of the game either, but it clearly makes money somehow, and Obsidian is paid to keep running it. That's the reason why Obsidian is so large now.
witchedwiz
Member
as much as i love obsidian, first they loose avellone, now they consider turning into a "subsidiary" development team for a bigger firm..
It's fine per se, but I'm not really sold on this course change...
It's fine per se, but I'm not really sold on this course change...
magwizsorc
Member
I think they need to up their presentation game if they are going to stand even a small chance of being acquired by a large publisher.
witchedwiz
Member
sure, but is monolith this massive?
And you have to understand that those 200 people I doubt are all "low earners"...
we'll see
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Sounds like we're in agreement.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Hense why we arent getting another saints row. Smh.
Tizoc
Member
Oi we dont need more uwp pc releases thank you very much@_@
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Does the article mention what those ten studios in a similar position are?
Maybe we can figure it out:
Obsidian
Gearbox
Bungie
Kojima's new studio?
Respawn
Platinum
Maybe we can figure it out:
Obsidian
Gearbox
Bungie
Kojima's new studio?
Respawn
Platinum
That genre is too niche for that to happen. To me it looks they would prefer to turn PoE into something like Dragon Age just to make more money.
Studios like Larian or inXile (if Torment does well) are quite small and they seem reasonably happy.
Insomniac, perhaps.
If they are gonna get bought, Paradox would be my best hope.
No.
Obsidian should make RPGs, not FPS games.
No.
Obsidian should make RPGs, not FPS games.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Insomniac is a good call.
Maybe TellTale?
Are Vicarious Visions independent?
Maybe TellTale?
Are Vicarious Visions independent?
But...
Maybe they should take those assets they made for this tank game and turn that into a persona like Girls und Panzer RPG.
CecilRousso
Member
That's different from the current Obsidian how?
It's different in the sense that Obsidian can work on PoE and Tyranny now, and not just Armored Warfare.
Well, MonolithSoft does serve also as Nintendo support company so even with the huge employee, it does not make them useless at all.^_^