Staying Alive: How Obsidian, Robot, and Double Fine Have Defied the Decline of Mid-size Studios

 

 

Sawyer was also keenly aware of Obsidian's limitations as a developer. At the time, Obsidian was mired in the development of South Park: The Stick of Truth, which would not come out for another two years. Though fun to make, projects like South Park and Fallout: Vegas had put a great deal of strain on Obsidian's infrastructure. Without the flexibility afforded by being owned by a publisher, Sawyer was concerned that Obsidian was effectively playing a zero sum game in which failure could prove devastating. 

 

What's more, they simply didn't have the resources to compete with the likes of Ubisoft and other big name developers. "Our studio at the highest is 150, and that's the highest it's ever been. What's the newest Assasin's Creed? Like 400 people? Obsidian usually has two or three teams working concurrently, and they have 50 people or something like that," Sawyer says. "So it's hard for us to try and punch at that weight. So looking at other ways to make games that are smaller scope, and just the style of it means we can have a smaller team. I think we would like to find more midcore development where we're not competing with Call of Duty or something like that."

Edited September 24, 201411 yr by Endrosz

Double Fine will never leave San Francisco. But given its financial issues lately, it really should.

Oh, man, imagine your future co-workers all voting whether or not you get hired. The flipside is hopefully a stronger, smaller team that works more, and gabs less.