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[Triggerhappytel]

Reasonable candidates IMO:

• Sony - need more western RPGs although they typically acquire studios considerably smaller than this
• Ubisoft - also need more representation in this genre, but I expect it won't happen as they seem to have cut ties after South Park: The Stick of Truth
• Bethesda - I don't want it to happen and again I think that ship has sailed as it's been 6 years since New Vegas
• Microsoft - again, I don't see it happening as I think MS are moving away from owning studios and they just shut down their similar-sized RPG developer
• Nintendo - why not? They need more western studios and need to diversify
• Take-Two - again, they have no representation in this genre (I think?) and generally seem pretty good as a publisher. A big, polished western action RPG could be a big earner for them

 

[duckroll]

It's different in the sense that Obsidian can work on PoE and Tyranny now, and not just Armored Warfare.

As long as their main resource focus is on a F2P MMO that is making whoever is paying them money, I don't really see the difference. An Asian company isn't going to say no if their subsidiary is able to make more money and diversify in the market with smaller agile teams.

Doesn't count!

The game they are mainly working on in the studio and putting over 100 people on day in day out "doesn't count"?

 

[Keasar]

But...

Doesn't count!


Okay a bit perhaps but after testing I thought it was kinda "eh" and think they should stick with right now what they definitely do best. I get why they made it but it just isn't their biggest strength. And also why I said no is because I think Bethesda should quit trying to make RPGs and focus on FPS games because I am really sure they have found their true calling there.

 

[casiopao]

Reasonable candidates IMO:

• Sony - need more western RPGs although they typically acquire studios considerably smaller than this
• Ubisoft - also need more representation in this genre, but I expect it won't happen as they seem to have cut ties after South Park: The Stick of Truth
• Bethesda - I don't want it to happen and again I think that ship has sailed as it's been 6 years since New Vegas
• Microsoft - again, I don't see it happening as I think MS are moving away from owning studios and they just shut down their similar-sized RPG developer
• Nintendo - why not? They need more western studios and need to diversify
• Take-Two - again, they have no representation in this genre (I think?) and generally seem pretty good as a publisher. A big, polished western action RPG could be a big earner for them

I would hate seeing Sony getting this company and end up killing them like how the killed many of their underperforming devs here.T_T

 

[_machine]

You can also add Yager Development and Remedy to the list of 100+ independent AAA-like studios. United Front Games is independent too, but I'm not sure about their size.

 

[_Clash_]

Wacky Nintendo incoming

 

[deleted]

I'd love for square-enix to give Obsidian work on a AAA open world Legacy of Kain or Soul Reaver reboot.

 

[FelipeMGM]

Zenimax/Bethesda is the obvious assumption, but as Nirolak said, that should've happened years ago if it was the case. Microsoft is another that at first glance would suit them great, but they had a project with them that got cancelled, plus MS does not seem interested in purchasing any studio.

I think Sony could be a good fit for them, especially now that SIE is based on California and the focus of PlayStation is much more on the west than Japan. A good WRPG developer is something they could really use to get this relationship with the western public even more successful. Horizon reception could kinda indicate if that is something the PlayStation audience really wants.

 

[KainXVIII]

Yikes! I just hope that Obsidian will keep releasing PC games after someone bought it..

 

[jdstorm]

With all this talk of downsizing. Why don't obsidian reorganise into 4 smaller 50 person teams and Tripple their output. Wouldn't making more smaller games be a better solution?

Also if Cloud Imperium has a successful launch of Star Citizen they might be a candidate

 

[The_Spaniard]

This is a real bombshell to hear about the desire to be bought, but it all makes sense. I wish everyone back at the office the best of luck with how this all shakes out. There are a lot of great people working there and I miss them all, they deserve all the stability they can get.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I would hate seeing Sony getting this company and end up killing them like how the killed many of their underperforming devs here.T_T

At least half of those I've listed are pretty bad for shutting down developers. Not sure about Ubisoft. Sony has also treated some devs really well and helped them elevate to among the best in their respective genres, like Naughty Dog, Media Molecule, Santa Monica Studios and potentially Guerrilla Games. I don't think they'd be a bad choice and WRPGs are very hot right now.

 

[CecilRousso]

As long as their main resource focus is on a F2P MMO that is making whoever is paying them money, I don't really see the difference. An Asian company isn't going to say no if their subsidiary is able to make more money and diversify in the market with smaller agile teams.

I'm not so sure about that. A lot of companies aren't interested in what in their eyes are products with minor profits, and I can very well see Obsidian in such a scenario being "forced" to focus only on the main products.

 

[bidguy]

hopefuly no first party pub buys them ...

edit: sony or nintendo would be terrible. at least with ms theres a chance for pc...

 

[Django.Mango]

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...tertainment-survival-success-and-independence

This is an interview with Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment.

I suggest reading the whole thing. He's very blunt and honest in it and goes into a lot more detail about the realities of being a mid-sized independent studio.

Hopefully for them they can find a good publisher to buy them and get out of what sounds like a very negative cycle.

Summary:

• "I've got 200 people and they've all gotta be paid. That changes your whole mindset... That means there's always a gun to your head"
• "I mean, yeah, I'd like a Lamborghini in every color of the rainbow, of course, but really we just want to be in a financial situation where we're not worried all the time. Worry is the gun to your head. It changes how you make decisions."
• Feargus notes how there's only about 10 independent developers of Obsidian's size (~100-200+ staff) left.
• Feargus talks about the challenges they've faced with their titles and the budgets they're given. For example, the notably flawed multiplayer implementation in Dungeon Siege III was about all their budget could afford them, even though they knew it wasn't going to be acceptable in the modern market.
• Similarly Feargus notes that their projects were frequently shorted QA resources due to other, more prominent projects at publishers shipping. Sometimes they'd only have two testers on their game as they were nearing launch.
• He also notes that Obsidian had made a lot of bad decisions with their internal development process in their historical projects. Obsidian would dive into a project without really planning out what to do and it would cause massive problems and delays, and ruin their relationship with their publishers. With few publishers available anymore, that becomes very problematic.
• On disagreeing with publishers as an independent dev: "Well, you have three choices: you can spend your own money, you can lie, or you can do what you're told. And, generally, we've always chosen that we'll just do what we're told - even when we don't believe in it."
• Obsidian is now favorable toward the idea of killing games early, as it works out way better for both the publisher and the developer. We've seen a few publishers like EA take up this strategy as well.
• Feargus talks about how when you're working as an independent developer with a publisher, there's a large number of things outside of your control, so these days Obsidian just tries to really focus on doing the things they can control well and then signing contracts that guarantee things like minimum numbers of testers to assuage some of the other issues.
• Due to how independent development contracts are set up (unless you're say Bungie/Respawn/Gearbox), even in the optimistic case (toward the AAA game), they would make more money off of shipping two Pillars of Eternity games than they would from a $50 million AAA title.
• The vast majority of Obsidian's staff is working on Armored Warfare (based on other interviews, seemingly 140+ people), but as most of the team has been on the game for 2-4 years now, they want to work on other projects as this was pretty obviously a needed-to-survive contract work project for them. There's an implication here that the staff is not satisfied with the current situation, but that Obsidian doesn't have a solution to it as it stands.
• Feargus implies that Leonard Boyarsky is working on a pitch for the type of $30-$50 million project that could employ that much staff, but they'd need to find someone who is actually willing to fund that from Obsidian, so I wouldn't necessarily hold my breath here.
• On the differences in what he expected in 2003 (when Obsidian was founded) versus today: "I thought we would have our own engine at this point - and we tried. I thought we would have been purchased by now. I thought we wouldn't be as big as we are."
• "I am fine being independent in 13 years. I would be okay if we got purchased, but I would be fine independent."
• On the next 13 years: "We can keep doing great stuff with Eternity. I'd love to turn Eternity into more like a Skyrim product. I'd love to do a science fiction game. I just want to keep making role-playing games - I do, and the team does. Whether that's independent or not, making RPGs we can be proud of is the goal."

He wants to do a 30-50 Mio-Dollar game to employ his 200 people? For sure. Thats his concept? I cant see a problem in kickstarting new projects to make games (3-5Mio ones) that obsidian wants to do and get the bills payed for the employees. Sure there is always a risk but they have a great reputation and a team with great talent. Otherwise they have to get other investors. But when a big publisher purchases obsidian, they will cut the stuff drastically. 200 people, you can do 5-10 great games with that manpower. I cant believe why there is such a big problem to convince investors to invest in a good project, but if so, kickstart some games to get the stuff employed and payed.

First post on this board, greetings from germany.

 

[shintoki]

I would hate seeing Sony getting this company and end up killing them like how the killed many of their underperforming devs here.T_T

I can't think of a single company Sony has unfairly shut down. Almost every single one had several bombs before they were put to rest.

At best, maybe Warner Bros would want them. I could see them wanting someone who can dab into RPGs for them since they hold a pretty good amount of properties such as LOTR, Potter, etc.

But no one seems to be lining up to buy them, which is worrying. They don't have any strong IPs, most of their titles did worse than the previous entry, I imagine whoever buys them will likely shut them down in a few years.

 

[KainXVIII]

at least with ms theres a chance for pc...

With exclusive to Win10 store, no thanks! Its better not to be some console holder..

 

[bidguy]

With exclusive to Win10 store, no thanks! Its better not to be some console holder..

yea i wrote at least

ms would be the lesser evil

 

[twobear]

Paradox where are u

 

[FelipeMGM]

I can't think of a single company Sony has unfairly shut down. Almost every single one had several bombs before they were put to rest.

At best, maybe Warner Bros would want them. I could see them wanting someone who can dab into RPGs for them since they hold a pretty good amount of properties such as LOTR, Potter, etc.

But no one seems to be lining up to buy them, which is worrying. They don't have any strong IPs, most of their titles did worse than the previous entry, I imagine whoever buys them will likely shut them down in a few years.

Oh, Warner would be a great one

 

[ramoisdead]

I can't think of a single company Sony has unfairly shut down. Almost every single one had several bombs before they were put to rest.

At best, maybe Warner Bros would want them. I could see them wanting someone who can dab into RPGs for them since they hold a pretty good amount of properties such as LOTR, Potter, etc.

But no one seems to be lining up to buy them, which is worrying. They don't have any strong IPs, most of their titles did worse than the previous entry, I imagine whoever buys them will likely shut them down in a few years.

Get Warner Brothers the fuck away from Obsidian.

 

[casiopao]

I can't think of a single company Sony has unfairly shut down. Almost every single one had several bombs before they were put to rest.

At best, maybe Warner Bros would want them. I could see them wanting someone who can dab into RPGs for them since they hold a pretty good amount of properties such as LOTR, Potter, etc.

But no one seems to be lining up to buy them, which is worrying. They don't have any strong IPs, most of their titles did worse than the previous entry, I imagine whoever buys them will likely shut them down in a few years.

O_O WB would be a great choice for sure especially when they wanted to dab more into game industry here. Not to mention, Mordor seems to be doing well there.^_^

The problem here is Obsidian is not a guarantee success too so, one huge big bomb, i can see Sony will kill the company there.

 

[Fishook]

The smaller mid sized developers have produced the best PC games over the last few years and I would include Obsidian in this. Paradox is the best fit IMO, I just thing the days of AAA gaming are in decline. Apart from a dozen or so franchises.

The only reason CD Project was successful with lack of advertising and such compared to other big publishers is because they owned GoG, otherwise it would just been another mid-tier RPG. Unless you are backed by Sony or Microsoft on consoles you will fail.

Obsidian should stick to niche RPG's where you many not make mega money but enough to keep you ticking along. It will interesting to see how well No Man's Sky does

 

[_machine]

He I cant believe why there is such a big problem to convince investors to invest in a good project, but if so, kickstart some games to get the stuff employed and payed.

"Good project" doesn't necessarily mean a good business case for investors; games, especially of this size, are notoriously risky, the investment is huge (in total you're looking at $30 million minimum, and another 30 for marketing and that's low-balling if you want to compete in the market) the ROI isn't always that great (certainly when it comes to the risk factor) and any investors specialized in games (so they actually know what they are investing into) are hard to come by and they are much more likely to hedge their bets and put the money into multiple mobile develoeprs. "such a big problem" is a massive understatement; getting money in their business is becoming nigh-impossible these days.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

Fuck no to Sony or Microsoft. No exclusives or MS Store only games.

Bethesda gets my vote, bad blood notwithstanding. Obsidian signed that deal, Bethesda simply followed it. Bethesda Softworks have done great with the companies they've bought: Id is back atop the FPS world; Arkane had a huge success with Dishonored, has a great-looking sequel on the way, and their second office is rebooting Prey; ZOS, Tango, and MachineGames all had strong first entries; Fallout shelter was a big success; BGS continues to roll, if not always like we'd hope.

Shit, they'd probably even let them keep making some PC-only cRPGs too, since they've done so well.

 

[Taruranto]

Why would anyone want a console publisher to own them?

Yeah, I was about to ask the same question. I just don't understand.

 

[Regginator]

I hope Bethesda buys them and make Obsidian their go-to Fallout developer (or at least a collaboration). You'd think that's a win-win situation.

 

[HK-47]

I hope Bethesda buys them and make Obsidian their go-to Fallout developer (or at least a collaboration).

I wouldnt wish Zenimax's scummy practices on anyone.

 

[Regginator]

I wouldnt wish Zenimax's scummy practices on anyone.

Can you educate me on that? The only controversy I recall between Bethesda (Zenimax) and Obsidian was the 85 metacritic stuff about New Vegas.

 

[Django.Mango]

"Good project" doesn't necessarily mean a good business case for investors; games, especially of this size, are notoriously risky, the investment is huge (in total you're looking at $30 million minimum, and another 30 for marketing and that's low-balling if you want to compete in the market) the ROI isn't always that great (certainly when it comes to the risk factor) and any investors specialized in games (so they actually know what they are investing into) are hard to come by and they are much more likely to hedge their bets and put the money into multiple mobile develoeprs. "such a big problem" is a massive understatement; getting money in their business is becoming nigh-impossible these days.

Okay, that´s my point. I think its unrealistic to impossible to get that amount of money for a project of this size the CEO of Obsidian is thinking about. So convince Investors for some smaller projects to employ his stuff, some projects they would like to do, which are still kind of niche ones (Sci-fi, RPG, Storytelling) For sure you have your stuff safe when you get a huge deal like this, but i think its more of a wishful thinking. I don´t know, PoE (for sure) and now Tyranny (probably) seem to be excellent products of a cooperation with Paradox, maybe its a hint. But again, 200 people, Paradox Interactive has round about 200 people busy.

 

[Lime]

I just hope they manage to squeeze out the Vampire Bloodlines sequel before they get sucked up by a big publisher

Great thread by the way, some really great posts in this thread.

 

[HStallion]

Go get them Sony. Having a serious WRPG studio that they can let run wild and give decent funding and support to would be incredible. Though I don't know if I'd like them exclusive to one system especially when they are such big PC developers.

 

[_machine]

Okay, that´s my point. I think its unrealistic to impossible to get that amount of money for a project of this size the CEO of Obsidian is thinking about. So convince Investors for some smaller projects to employ his stuff, some projects they would like to do, which are still kind of niche ones (Sci-fi, RPG, Storytelling) For sure you have your stuff safe when you get a huge deal like this, but i think its more of a wishful thinking. I don´t know, PoE (for sure) and now Tyranny (probably) seem to be excellent products of a cooperation with Paradox, maybe its a hint. But again, 200 people, Paradox Interactive has round about 200 people busy.

Sure, we know PoE was a hit for them, but let's see how the market stabilizes with Torment, Tyranny and PoE2, not to mention that these projects still aren't necessarily big enough to support a whole studio. It's also something that investors would not be interested in, for the risk and ROI still applies. Paradox is in because they can actually contribute positively with their expertise, need to re-invest the money they have and their long-term vision matches that, but they are right about the only ones capable/wanting to do that.

That said, if else fails I can definitely see them going lean and focusing on cooperation with Paradox and building more iso-RPGs, but that would realistically mean cutting almost 75% of their studio and probably lead to closure after the market dries up and they have not been able to reach the scale needed to secure the future and diversified their portfolio.

 

[Wollan]

Go get them Sony. Having a serious WRPG studio that they can let run wild and give decent funding and support to would be incredible. Though I don't know if I'd like them exclusive to one system especially when they are such big PC developers.

Between Horizon, God of War and Bloodborne I think Sony is pretty good on the wrpg front. And Oblivion has always been very shaky technically and very PC focused. Doesn't seem like a good match.

 

[Moff]

disney should buy them and they should be put in chains and forced to make KOTOR games till the end of their days

 

[Dennis]

Bethesda - if they would allow Obsidian to work on Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

Paradox Interactive - but I doubt Paradox is bold enough for that move.

 

[Labadal]

I'm having a laugh at the thought of Microsoft buying them. It's because of Microsoft they had a very rough period. They'd also be closed down within five years.

 

[InsaneTiger]

I think it is obvious any purchase of Obsidian would see them let go of some of those 200 people. Hope they can find a way to succeed.

Edit: wrong O

 

[Regginator]

I think it is obvious any purchase of Oblivion would see them let go of some of those 200 people. Hope they can find a way to succeed.

 

[Django.Mango]

Sure, we know PoE was a hit for them, but let's see how the market stabilizes with Torment, Tyranny and PoE2, not to mention that these projects still aren't necessarily big enough to support a whole studio. It's also something that investors would not be interested in, for the risk and ROI still applies. Paradox is in because they can actually contribute positively with their expertise, need to re-invest the money they have and their long-term vision matches that, but they are right about the only ones capable/wanting to do that.

That said, if else fails I can definitely see them going lean and focusing on cooperation with Paradox and building more iso-RPGs, but that would realistically mean cutting almost 75% of their studio and probably lead to closure after the market dries up and they have not been able to reach the scale needed to secure the future and diversified their portfolio.

Yes, time will tell. I hope that a telented crew like the one from Obsidian can stay together and make the games they want to. And when Paradox wants to expand their portfolio continuous with great RPG-Developers, nice. On the other side i think your estimation with dismissing 75% of employees seems realistic, unfortunately.

 

[decoyplatypus]

I can sympathize with Feargus and other folks at Obsidian wanting the opportunity to make big, AAA RPGs in addition to classic, Eternity-like games. But I just don't see a publisher who would want to buy them for the former, and being bought out would almost certainly mean the end of the latter (Eternity may have been a mild success for Obsidian, but it didn't exactly show major publishers they needed to start funding isometric RPGs again).

Every path forward is going to be painful. Being bought out carries the least risk of shutting down all together. So I can't fault Feargus there, even if I prefer an independent Obsidian.

 

[LifeBrandRobot]

Holy crap, I didn't know Obsidian had so many employees. Too bad they don't do many console games, I don't think Ubisoft, Activision or the bigger Japanese publishers are interested in a AAA sized team that will primarily be making AAA PC only games. Best chance is probably with EA or Bethesda, but if Bethesda hasn't bought them yet I don't think they're interested. Too bad they don't have any kind of meaningful relationship with Sony. RPGs have been lacking when it came to their Western first party (until Horizon I hope), and they seem to be okay with giving their devs giant budgets and as much time as they want when it comes to AAA games.

 

[Banderdash]

I'd like to see Microsoft buy them, they don't have an RPG developer anymore... and their ecosystem is lacking in first party RPGs. And I'd like to see them have access to Microsofts Quality Assurance assets.

Every time I see a thread like this, about a studio that's risking going under... I just think of Microsoft and those billions they've got sitting outside the US that they can't just bring into their revenue.

Microsoft bought Minecraft for 2 billion, that leaves about six out there... right?

I can't fathom why Microsoft haven't bought CryTek yet either.



Alternatively, I could see EA buying them and rolling them into their Bioware teams.

 

[sanhora]

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

Remedy.

 

[The Last Wizard]

Hell no to MS, ave y'all not seen the way they've mismanaged studios?

 

[Ushay]

This might sound crazy but MS is an ideal candidate for this deal, especially under Spencer direction. They literally have zero exclusive RPGs it's what I see as their weakest area in first party content.

 

[10k]

EA buys them and puts them on KOTOR III.

 

[Dennis]

Reasonable candidates IMO:

• Nintendo - why not? They need more western studios and need to diversify

The world is not ready for Obsidian Zelda.

 

[Tigress]

Bethesda is good candidate.

I agree. I know may not be a popular opinion but they seem to let their developers do what they want mostly and like rpg games (and don't insist on everything being mp)

(Plus I admit the idea that might mean more likely we get another obsidian fallout has me biased).

 

[bjork]

I know a couple of people at Obsidian including a real good friend of mine, so if they were ever sold, I'd hope they were given a chance to shoot for the moon, whether that's an existing IP or maybe something entirely new.