Obsidian and the future. What can we expect?

[C2B]

 

 

 

1. Yes, but MMX is far from a AAA game. Mid-Budget. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of that and that IS the market that is going to be interesting for the likes of us in the upcoming years.. AAA style we'll get what we get.

 

 

Yes it is. Very far; and gladly so. I'm not particularly keen on AAA titles anyway; they always seem too scattered around with their focus.

 

Of course, though, that comes with it's own set of hopes and expectations -- DS3, for eg.,  was a mid budget game (yes?), but I wouldn't consider it a home run from any angle. Anyways, we'll see where this train goes eventually; it's not in the sunniest of places right now and there's no predicting if it will stop next, but... eventually.

 

 

DSIII was a bit special in the regard of that it was Mid-Budget with AAA budget production values..

Edited March 20, 2014 by C2B

[Undecaf]

 

 

DSIII was a bit special in the regard of that it was Mid-Budget with AAA budget production values..

 

 

That explains a lot, actually.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Undecaf

[Ado13]

I would like to see Obsidian make a RPG with the gameplay like that in The Last Remnant

Edited March 21, 2014 by Ado13

[exodiark]

I don't think you need to worry, I think Obsidian is pulling a Jackie Chan, that is, developing something that brings them money so they can develop something-they-like-but-not-necessarily-popular later.

Jackie admits that his Hollywood movies are just for money to fund his personal-favorite movie projects.

[C2B]

I don't think you need to worry, I think Obsidian is pulling a Jackie Chan, that is, developing something that brings them money so they can develop something-they-like-but-not-necessarily-popular later.

 

Jackie admits that his Hollywood movies are just for money to fund his personal-favorite movie projects.

 

While the project itself it sub-optimal I wouldn't assume they don't like what they are doing or not making it quality. There's lots of MMO players at Obsidian (And World of Tanks ones)

[Semper]

Do MMO's like that really make a lot of money?  Honestly curious.

 

world of tanks generates double digit millions a month.

@thread: too much drama involved -.-

 

those 2 mmo projects were signed after obsidian's deal with microsoft crashed. their financial future was "cloudy" and they decided to take every job available. world of tanks' user base in the u.s. ain't that big, and with an american developer as carthorse and a f2p business model the innitial interest will be huge.

[Hassat Hunter]

Deal with Microsoft?

Tell me more about stuff you apparently know that we don't.

 

WoT may have made that... WoW also made a lot of money... doesn't mean all it's clones did the same, even if some (ToR) were so expensive to make...

[C2B]

Deal with Microsoft?

Tell me more about stuff you apparently know that we don't.

 

2012 March Layoffs were because of a cancelled deal with Microsoft.

 

So, yes. We do know.

[Semper]

WoT may have made that... WoW also made a lot of money... doesn't mean all it's clones did the same, even if some (ToR) were so expensive to make...

 

 

so what? that's a financial risk mother russia has to bear. obsidian is just the contracted developer and will get paid however the outcome. plus it's another shipped game in the company's résumé and adds to the overall prowesses, which helps to get additional contracts in the long run. if obsidian doesn't mess up there's no way they can lose here.

[exodiark]

 

I don't think you need to worry, I think Obsidian is pulling a Jackie Chan, that is, developing something that brings them money so they can develop something-they-like-but-not-necessarily-popular later.

 

Jackie admits that his Hollywood movies are just for money to fund his personal-favorite movie projects.

 

While the project itself it sub-optimal I wouldn't assume they don't like what they are doing or not making it quality. There's lots of MMO players at Obsidian (And World of Tanks ones)

 

Oh I said it wrong, maybe I should say "outside their focus" games rather than "games that brings them money."

I certainly hope that Armored Warfare have Obsidian usual narratives, I wouldn't mind reading Obsidian's take on politics and wars

[Darth Trethon]

I agree with the OP, MMOs are a no go for me and my final faith in the future of RPGs is with Obsidian, inXile and CDPR.....this is it, the last three, if these fail RPGs will be no more. I hope that Pillars of Eternity sells big time and brings enough profits that Obsidian will then be able to go fully independent. After that I'd want to see a true core RPG find greater success than all the GTA games combined.

[Hassat Hunter]

Tell me more about the Microsoft deal then... first I heard of it.

 

And Armored Warfare is developed by OE. I don't think "they get paid regardless" is the right thing to say in that regard, plenty of developers went belly-up despite 'they get paid', it just doesn't work that way.

[C2B]

I agree with the OP, MMOs are a no go for me and my final faith in the future of RPGs is with Obsidian, inXile and CDPR.....this is it, the last three, if these fail RPGs will be no more. I hope that Pillars of Eternity sells big time and brings enough profits that Obsidian will then be able to go fully independent. After that I'd want to see a true core RPG find greater success than all the GTA games combined.

So, you want them to downsize and make less games?

 

What?

 

Pillars of Eternity won't bring in enough money to go fully indepenendent and suddenly produce big AAA titles. There's people that are fans of Obsidian's AAA titles as well.

 

That would be an argument if Obsidian wasn't doing RPG's anymore. They are. They currently have the most rpgy project in production they EVER did.

Edited March 21, 2014 by C2B

[C2B]

Tell me more about the Microsoft deal then... first I heard of it.

You almost definitly heard about it.

 

Sawyer Project. March 2012. George Ziets + Co went away?

 

That thing.

Edited March 21, 2014 by C2B

[Semper]

 

Tell me more about the Microsoft deal then... first I heard of it.

You almost definitly heard about it.

 

Sawyer Project. March 2012. George Ziets + Co went away?

 

That thing.

 

 

+xbox one +new ip +project north carolina

if that helps to get the bells ringing.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Semper

[Leferd]

 

Tell me more about the Microsoft deal then... first I heard of it.

You almost definitly heard about it.

 

Sawyer Project. March 2012. George Ziets + Co went away?

 

That thing.

Not everyone is as dialed in these boards as others regarding project status and employee turnaround.

 

Some of these references can get pretty esoteric even for board regulars.

[C2B]

 

 

Tell me more about the Microsoft deal then... first I heard of it.

You almost definitly heard about it.

 

Sawyer Project. March 2012. George Ziets + Co went away?

 

That thing.

 

 

Not everyone is as dialed in these boards as others regarding project status and employee turnaround.

 

Some of these references can get pretty esoteric even for board regulars.

 

 

Yeah. Those were the worst layoffs though Obsidian's ever had and were covered by media outlets. 30-40 people lost their jobs. It came out that a project lead by Sawyer got cancelled and Microsoft was mentioned as the publisher.

 

That's the gisht of it.

Edited March 21, 2014 by C2B

[lobotomy42]

Is it known if any projects are in development at Obsidian besides Tanks, Eternity and Skyforge?

[Hassat Hunter]

Yeah. Those were the worst layoffs though Obsidian's ever had and were covered by media outlets. 30-40 people lost their jobs. It came out that a project lead by Sawyer got cancelled and Microsoft was mentioned as the publisher.

 

That's the gisht of it.

I don't really read online game media, since they're 95% utter crap. The offline which you pay for is a lot better, of course they have to since they require a paid subscription, but the difference is so gigantic there's no point to look online.

 

Aaaaaanyway, ventured over to the RPG-Codex (have faith on my soul) and found this gem;

 

Also, I laughed out loud about hoping we go to war with Russia over Ukrain and that means the end of this American-Russian co-operation.

Does that make me a bad person?

[C2B]

Also, I laughed out loud about hoping we go to war with Russia over Ukrain and that means the end of this American-Russian co-operation.

Does that make me a bad person?

Yes

[Apatia]

Is it known if any projects are in development at Obsidian besides Tanks, Eternity and Skyforge?

They do have something up in their sleeves.

 

https://twitter.com/Obsidian/status/446713783080087552

@robnaa We do have some other things cookin' over here, but nothing we can elaborate on at this time. We're very busy though.

[MoldyCheese]

They've had a lot of job postings lately for MMO's. So I wonder if it's just them trying to diversify in case of a flop. It makes a lot of sense to have multiple projects on the go to cover their asses. Doesn't mean I'm going to play them.

 

Though I'm kind of on the same page as the OP. I'd love a steady stream of badass RPG's like we had for a few years with Black Isle/Interplay. It has really seemed to have stalled though. Especially, now that Bioware has gone to crap. Thanks again EA!

 

Hell, the only reason I'm even posting on these boards right now is that I'm bored as hell, and cant think of anything good to play that I haven't played recently.

 

Wait for Wasteland 2 to get released, I guess.

[Darth Trethon]

 

I agree with the OP, MMOs are a no go for me and my final faith in the future of RPGs is with Obsidian, inXile and CDPR.....this is it, the last three, if these fail RPGs will be no more. I hope that Pillars of Eternity sells big time and brings enough profits that Obsidian will then be able to go fully independent. After that I'd want to see a true core RPG find greater success than all the GTA games combined.

So, you want them to downsize and make less games?

 

What?

 

Pillars of Eternity won't bring in enough money to go fully indepenendent and suddenly produce big AAA titles. There's people that are fans of Obsidian's AAA titles as well.

 

That would be an argument if Obsidian wasn't doing RPG's anymore. They are. They currently have the most rpgy project in production they EVER did.

 

No, I understand they need to do what projects they can but I'd rather them do more RPGs instead of MMOs. On one hand I'm tempted to buy this MMO and not play it just to help them have a successful launch and hopefully the project will be a success for them but on the other hand I'm afraid that if it's really  successful they might turn around and say: "Hey, MMOs work great for us, so you know what? F*** RPGs, let's turn everything into an MMO!!" and then all the games from them that I love would have MMO sequels in which case I would be horribly upset to see a sudden end to any excitement or desire I would have for Obsidian games.

[C2B]

 I'm afraid that if it's really  successful they might turn around and say: "Hey, MMOs work great for us, so you know what? F*** RPGs, let's turn everything into an MMO!!" and then all the games from them that I love would have MMO sequels in which case I would be horribly upset to see a sudden end to any excitement or desire I would have for Obsidian games.

 

 

Yeah, that's not going to happen.

 

I understand the fear, but this is something I'd bet everything I have on it. They're not going to suddenly desert rpg's for the hell of it.

Edited March 21, 2014 by C2B

[HoonDing]

Only chance for AAA RPG is if Ubisoft or Bethesda throw them a bone. Though Activision possesses some interesting licenses also.

 

Mid-range RPG would work as well. Would be funny seeing them work with Deep Silver or Nordic Games. Certainly better than freaking Allods.