Support NeoGAF

[Zeliard]

Just losing out on Baldur's Gate 3 and Van Buren has to be absolutely crushing, let alone everything else on top of it.

I have to imagine one of the major reasons Obsidian took the terrible New Vegas contract is not only because they have to generally take the work they can get, but that it was their chance (specifically Sawyer and Avellone) to delve back into the Fallout world after Van Buren was canned.

 

[Labadal]

Some interesting posts by former Obsidian employee Nathaniel Chapman

Ardennes posted:
That said, I think even as buggy as Alpha Protocol was, it still sold better than DS3.

DS3 sold more copies in its first month (820k) than AP sold over its lifetime.

It also cost less to develop.

the black husserl posted:

Yeah I keep saying. DS3 made mad money and it apparently cost like nothing to make. Cheap games with awful camera, your future!

I said it sold more, I didn't say it made Obsidian mad money.

As a former Obsidian guy, I have to say this is just really depressing. I feel for everyone there and everyone who just lost their job. Independent development is a hard road.

The most interesting post is below.

Irish Taxi Driver posted:

You safe from the layoffs?

EDIT: Oh, didn't know you left.

Yeah, I am no longer there but I still have a lot of contact with folks from there and work about 3 blocks away now

What I'm going to say next, I just want to clarify, is not speaking for my former or current employer, but is just my personal opinion and experience:

Not *every* independent development deal has no royalties and purely metacritic-based bonuses. However, as many people have pointed out in the thread, AAA development deals are NOT common, and for an independent developer the choice is sometimes a)sign a lovely deal or b)cease to exist as a company. I'm not saying this was necessarily the case with any particular game of Obsidian's, rather, it's a universal thing that applies to pretty much any independent developer at some point or another.

There are a ton of things that can screw over an independent developer, literally nobody who is in a position to help a small developer survive and thrive has any interest in doing so, and the people who are interested in small developers thriving (namely, fans) can only really provide support by buying their game, which in many cases doesn't actually go to the developer.

And, when a small developer makes mistakes, or discovers over time that they don't have the resources to execute on a vision, they don't have the option to absorb the losses and turn the project around, usually. It's really, really common as an independent developer to acknowledge a problem exists with a game you're making, but to also know that there's no way you're going to get the resources to fix them or realize your vision of how great your game could be.

 

[FateBreaker]

Some interesting posts by former Obsidian employee Nathaniel Chapman








The most interesting post is below.

This is all very interesting, but there is no way DS3 sold 820k in one month. No, way.

 

[lsslave]

This is all very interesting, but there is no way DS3 sold 820k in one month. No, way.

Who knows, but this guy did work for Obsidian so it is the closest thing we have to a real number (although the fact DS3 outsold AP is the true tragedy. Due to sales and lowered prices a lot more people have played it but AP should have been so much bigger of a hit )

 

[Labadal]

This is all very interesting, but there is no way DS3 sold 820k in one month. No, way.

Those numbers are from official Square Enix reports.

 

[subversus]

This is all very interesting, but there is no way DS3 sold 820k in one month. No, way.

WW - easily.

 

[TheOddOne]

The most interesting post is below.

That is depressingly realistic.

 

[SpaceDrake]

There are a ton of things that can screw over an independent developer, literally nobody who is in a position to help a small developer survive and thrive has any interest in doing so

Which is to say, modern publishing companies are run by idiots. If any of them had anything even approaching foresight and care for the future of their own publishing business, they'd do everything they can to nurture relationships with developers and ensure that the developers are financially healthy and receive continuing revenue from sales of product.

Instead it's all about appeasing faceless shareholders. And people wonder why I like Valve (or even Falcom or NIS) so much! (The latter two are publicly traded on a small scale, though.)

 

[Marco1]

It's sad how these guys constantly get shit upon and I wouldn't be surprised if they found other careers but they obviously love what they do and thank goodness for that.
I really hope they find another project.

 

[twobear]

ultimately, i hold water wendi responsible for obsidian's failure because he didn't buy enough copies of fallout:nv. i can never forgive water wendi.

 

[Emitan]

ultimately, i hold water wendi responsible for obsidian's failure because he didn't buy enough copies of fallout:nv. i can never forgive water wendi.

I thought water wendi was female. This has been bothering me for months. Will we ever know?

 

[Fahrenheit]

So is Obsidian really dead?

 

[Drazgul]

So is Obsidian really dead?

Heroes never die.

 

[SparkTR]

Rather than ceasing to exist, I wouldn't mind them downsizing and taking the indie Steam/PSN/XBLA route.

Hell, I want them to start a Kickstarter already so I can give them my $100.

 

[Pachterballs]

ultimately, i hold water wendi responsible for obsidian's failure because he didn't buy enough copies of fallout:nv. i can never forgive water wendi.

i'd blame the 1up guys. They knew their ship was sinking and took out obsidian by giving them a 60. Any higher and they would have gotten a bonus for FONV.