Obsidian currently working on next-gen console title

[TSBasilisk]

P:E is their PC baby; to keep the outside jobs rolling in, they need to broaden their horizons a bit, as more platforms means more sales and more funding.

[Flouride]

 

Unless it was for PC only game.

I'm not seeing many publishers willing to sign PC only for a South Park-sized project, tbh, though the PC market is a lot healthier and getting a lot of attention, and I can see Obsidian getting the chance to do more stuff that previously might not have been as financially viable.

 

True, but stranger things have happened

 

But on a more serious note. I'm thinking (okay throwing a wild guess) that this new project is Deus Ex: Human Defiance. Some finnish site is reporting that both the internal teams at Eidos Montreal are working on something else, so who would Square-Enix turn to make a sequel(?) to their hit game... Would also make some sense why team was buying blueprints

[Undecaf]

But on a more serious note. I'm thinking (okay throwing a wild guess) that this new project is Deus Ex: Human Defiance. Some finnish site is reporting that both the internal teams at Eidos Montreal are working on something else, so who would Square-Enix turn to make a sequel(?) to their hit game... Would also make some sense why team was buying blueprints

 

I'd by that for a dollar, were it the case.

[Apatia]

 

 

 

 

Unless it was for PC only game.

I'm not seeing many publishers willing to sign PC only for a South Park-sized project, tbh, though the PC market is a lot healthier and getting a lot of attention, and I can see Obsidian getting the chance to do more stuff that previously might not have been as financially viable.

 

 

 

True, but stranger things have happened

 

But on a more serious note. I'm thinking (okay throwing a wild guess) that this new project is Deus Ex: Human Defiance. Some finnish site is reporting that both the internal teams at Eidos Montreal are working on something else, so who would Square-Enix turn to make a sequel(?) to their hit game... Would also make some sense why team was buying blueprints

 

 

Hmmh.. Didn't someone from Obsidian tweet last year that they were visiting Eidos Montreal? Or maybe I remember wrong.

 

Or Deus Ex: Human Defiance will be Deus Ex the Movie and this is something completely different which is quite possible.

[Flouride]

 

 

 

Unless it was for PC only game.

I'm not seeing many publishers willing to sign PC only for a South Park-sized project, tbh, though the PC market is a lot healthier and getting a lot of attention, and I can see Obsidian getting the chance to do more stuff that previously might not have been as financially viable.

 

 

True, but stranger things have happened

 

But on a more serious note. I'm thinking (okay throwing a wild guess) that this new project is Deus Ex: Human Defiance. Some finnish site is reporting that both the internal teams at Eidos Montreal are working on something else, so who would Square-Enix turn to make a sequel(?) to their hit game... Would also make some sense why team was buying blueprints

 

Hmmh.. Didn't someone from Obsidian tweet last year that they were visiting Eidos Montreal? Or maybe I remember wrong.

 

Or Deus Ex: Human Defiance will be Deus Ex the Movie and this is something completely different which is quite possible.

 

I think Josh and Feargus were visiting Eidos Montreal.

[Gorth]

Tomb Raider the sandbox CRPG of exploration and discovery is probably too much to hope for.

[Pop]

Excited as I would be by an Obsidz Deus Ex game, I think it would be more likely that Ferg and co would be visiting Squeenix to pitch a fourth Dungeon Siege iteration.

 

This article from November 2011 says Eidos Montreal was working on the new Thief and an unannounced project at the time. That may or may not be another DE game. Sort of hard for me to believe that Squeenix would've let what they've characterized as a core franchise lie fallow for over a year, but maybe E:M earned a new IP, who knows.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Pop

[C2B]

 

 

 

 

Unless it was for PC only game.

I'm not seeing many publishers willing to sign PC only for a South Park-sized project, tbh, though the PC market is a lot healthier and getting a lot of attention, and I can see Obsidian getting the chance to do more stuff that previously might not have been as financially viable.

 

 

True, but stranger things have happened

 

But on a more serious note. I'm thinking (okay throwing a wild guess) that this new project is Deus Ex: Human Defiance. Some finnish site is reporting that both the internal teams at Eidos Montreal are working on something else, so who would Square-Enix turn to make a sequel(?) to their hit game... Would also make some sense why team was buying blueprints

 

Hmmh.. Didn't someone from Obsidian tweet last year that they were visiting Eidos Montreal? Or maybe I remember wrong.

 

Or Deus Ex: Human Defiance will be Deus Ex the Movie and this is something completely different which is quite possible.

 

I think Josh and Feargus were visiting Eidos Montreal.

 

Was nearly 2 years ago. I really doubt its Square for multiple reasons. A big one that they lost their contact at Square when he left SQE.

[SunBroSolaire]

 

 

Unless it was for PC only game.

I'm not seeing many publishers willing to sign PC only for a South Park-sized project, tbh, though the PC market is a lot healthier and getting a lot of attention, and I can see Obsidian getting the chance to do more stuff that previously might not have been as financially viable.

 

True, but stranger things have happened

 

But on a more serious note. I'm thinking (okay throwing a wild guess) that this new project is Deus Ex: Human Defiance. Some finnish site is reporting that both the internal teams at Eidos Montreal are working on something else, so who would Square-Enix turn to make a sequel(?) to their hit game... Would also make some sense why team was buying blueprints

I'm still hoping for an original project, but of all licenses, that would be ideal. You couldn't find a better match. Doubt it though.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Deus Ex: Human Defiance is most likely the Deus Ex movie, judging by recently registered domains. Besides, uhm, I'm not sure if Deus Ex is a good fit for Obsidian, unless it was a game in the same setting but with drastically different gameplay (less immersive sim shooter/stealth and more downright RPG).

[SunBroSolaire]

Well, look at New Vegas. That's a sim shooter with stealth. Granted the stealth and shooting aren't good, but the same could be said of the first two DX games. I'd say the main strength of those games was the non-linearity in the level design and story, which F:NV nailed and DX:HR totally dropped the ball on. Alpha Protocol is a goddamn paragon of non-linear storytelling and the shooting and stealth really aren't that bad. For a Deus Ex sequel, I would much prefer a deeply non-linear game with meaningful choice & consequence, great writing, and solid character progression mechanics, over Human Revolution's polished but mostly linear cover-based shooter with shallow and broken RPG systems. I think Obsidian could definitely deliver.

 

If not OEI, I'd like to see Arkane take the franchise over. It's all a pipe dream though, the series is doomed to a future of console shooters with minimal RPG influences.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Deus Ex had little to no story branching but excellent level design and balance. Alpha Protocol has a lot of micro-story branching and forward thinking design in terms of character progression and story, but generally fairly poor story and balance. You're basically proving my point

[SunBroSolaire]

Alpha Protocol had poor story? euuhkay. What about New Vegas? KOTOR 2? Mask of The Betrayer? Obsids are kind of known for their stories.

 

I can't agree with your claim that Deus Ex had especially good balance. Swimming, anyone? Dragon's Tooth?

 

It's true that the original Deus Ex could have done a lot better with acknowledging player choice. Invisible War, though, did a great job with this.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Eh, I mistyped, I meant to say that the game had poor level design.

[Starwars]

As much as I love Obsidian, it's hard for me to get excited by the prospects of a "next-gen" (so I guess we can finally leave calling PS3 and Xbox360 next-gen now?) game. It's just like... I can look forward to a new Obsidian game but then there will be new hardware to learn I guess, lots of new things and blablablabla... Most of which will ultimately probably mean one thing, fancier graphics. The "kickstarter era" of games feel a lot more exciting, even if the outcome of many of those is still very uncertain.

 

As far as Deus Ex goes, I really hope Eidos Montreal gets to continue developing that. Human Revolution, flaws and all, was overall a really good game and with a lot of potential to be even better. Hopefully upcoming chapters won't go down the "further streamlining" mode of thinking.

[SunBroSolaire]

Eh, I mistyped, I meant to say that the game had poor level design.

Ah. Yeah, true enough.

[funcroc]

Drew Bradford, Obsidian's new lead producer

 

SUMMARY

 

A senior game development manager with proven results. Brings a complete understanding of the dynamic technical and quality requirements of modern game development with a keen awareness of production budgets and schedules. Displayed the skill and flexibility to propose and implement real time operational solutions to company owners as well as key team members. A team oriented leader with sole production responsibility on three $20+ million PlayStation 3 titles Twisted Metal, Warhawk, and shared production responsibility on PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. A confident, tested, and professional team leadership style based on a diverse set of successes.

 

Specialties:

•    Ability to productively work with many personality types

•    Technically oriented and high attention to detail

•    Passionate about games and the process of making them

•    Ability to identify and mitigate problems throughout the development cycle

•    Quickly identify and plan out solutions for projects that are either over budget, over scoped or both

 

 

EXPERIENCE

 

Lead Producer

Obsidian Entertainment

March 2013 – Present (1 month) - Irvine, CA

Just started on a currently unannounced project. Can't wait to tell you all about it. Exciting times.

 

Producer

SuperBot Entertainment, Inc.

May 2012 – Present (11 months) - Culver City, CA

Was able to identify weak points late in the development cycle. With minor changes to the production methodology, turned around and shipped a very successful title, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

 

Was able to work closely with a remote team, Bluepoint, both for engine support [bluepoint Engine] and the Vita portion of the title. 

 

All-Stars Released, November 20th world wide both on the PS3 and Vita. [Cross Play Compatible]

Japan is scheduled to release on January, 31st on both PS3 and Vita. 

 

Currently focused on DLC and Patch creation for a title that enjoys 4,000 simultaneous users and more than half a million install base.

 

Senior Producer

Eat Sleep Play, Inc.

July 2007 – June 2012 (5 years) - Salt Lake City, UT

Recently Released Twisted Metal for PS3

February 14th US, March 9th EU, March 16th UK, March 23rd Korea.

 

•    Work with department leads and all team members

•    Monitor and report schedule and budget concerns directly to President

•    Managing all facets of internal and external production

•    Presenting the game at trade shows

•    Creation of design documents

•    Keeping the team motivated and focused over a 5 year development cycle

•    Recent Primary Tasks:

o    Post launch support / maintenance (Patches & Server Side Fixes)

o    Web site launch – World Wide

o    Staggered worldwide launch coordination

 

Producer / Associate Producer

Incognito Entertainment

November 2005 – July 2007 (1 year 9 months) - Salt Lake City, UT

WARHAWK

 

PRODUCER / Associate Producer

•    Main Focus was Multiplayer

•    Assisted in Design:

o    Shell Flow

o    Maps

o    Statistics and Rewards Systems

o    Game Modes and Rule Sets

o    Balancing and Tuning 

•    Coordinated:

o    Internal and External QA and Focus Testing

o    Internal Scripting Team (Single Player and MultiPlayer)

o    Localization

o    External Demo’s

•    Worked Closely With:

o    Outsourced Modeling Companies

o    External Audio

o    San Diego Cinematics

o    Marketing/PR

 

 It's early in the project, I'm the first producer on it.

 

[WorstUsernameEver]

I'm all jaded at this point, but it still gets me a tiny weeny bit excited to see Obsidian hiring again Good times.

[C2B]

I'm all jaded at this point, but it still gets me a tiny weeny bit excited to see Obsidian hiring again Good times.

 

Let's wait for the inevitable cancellation.

[licketysplit]

Wow, really? So that means 32 bit at least? Here comes AP: 64 bit edition...hardcore man. Really, you guys are pushing the console envelope.

Edited March 9, 2013 by licketysplit

[C2B]

Completly off-topic, but I just noticed that ex-Obsidianitie Travis Stout (Alpha Protocol, Old World Blues) changed job and location again and is currently working at Ubisoft Montreal.

[funcroc]

OT: Kazunori Aruga, concept artist

[C2B]

 

Obsidian Entertainment is looking for an experienced, talented User Experience (UX) Designer to join our team.

The UX Designer position requires a highly technical mind in addition to a good sense of layout, interactivity, and flow. The ideal candidate will have a strong understand of information architecture and how large amounts of information can be visually and functionally transformed into an attractive, intuitive user interface.

Requirements

• Prior experience as a UI/UX designer on at least one shipped game title (non-game industry experience on completed software products or live applications/websites may be acceptable).
• Proficient working with motion graphics - vector and raster.
• Willingness and ability to take ownership of the creation of a user experience from the concept stage (starting from a written design, sketches, and/or wireframes) all the way to the execution of a functional interface.
• Strong understanding of how to objectively evaluate a user experience for learnability and usability, and then adjust the design of the UI based on empirical data.
• Ability to continually re-evaluate, simplify, and improve existing designs to increase user acceptance.
• Ability to communicate effectively between design, art and programming.
• Comfortable with rapidly changing requirements and tight deadlines.
• Passionate about games and gaming.

Bonuses

• Understanding of and comfort with existing standards for ergonomics and usability compliance (ISO, MSDN, etc.).
• Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, After Effects, etc.).
• Proficient with Scaleform SDK.
• Educational background in cognitive science, psychology, industrial design, engineering, or any other applied science.
• Experience with any commercial game development packages (Unreal, CryEngine, Unity, etc.).
• Non-UI programming or scripting experience (C++, C#, Lua, Python, etc.).
• Traditional art, photography, or graphic design experience.
• 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, rendering, etc. in any major 3D package.
• Web design, HTML, CSS

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of the entire user interface pipeline on an upcoming video game title, from design to implementation.
• Understand, wrangle, and integrate huge amounts of data into a powerful, dynamic, functional, beautiful user experience.
• Work with artists, game designers, and programmers to fully integrate the aesthetic, mechanical, and technical elements of the product's user interface.
• Continually improve on an existing user interface, even after a product is launched.

Portfolio Requirements

• A portfolio that demonstrates an understanding of the entire UI/UX pipeline from concept to completion.
• Examples of working interface prototypes (preferably interactive - videos may be acceptable).
• Samples of UI/UX work from previous completed commercial products/websites.
• Plus: Samples of traditional art or graphic design.
• Plus: Samples of code/scripts.

Edited April 4, 2013 by C2B

[Undecaf]

I'm not a technical person. What exactly does user experience designers work mean in this case where one of the responsibilities is to "continually improve on an existing user interface, even after a product is lauched"? What kind of game needs a continually evolving UI? An MMO? An iOS game?

[alanschu]

A UI will need continual improvement over the course of development in general.