Company News RPGPOCALYPSE: Obsidian and inXile have been acquired by Microsoft

[Don Peste]

BTW why would Fargo say this if he already knew he was being bought by Microsoft?

Brian getting bored of retirement already

 

[The_Mask]

BTW why would Fargo say this if he already knew he was being bought by Microsoft?

Because he's a liar.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

In that last interview, he said you can achieve financial stability by selling two million units or by becoming part of a larger enterprise. My guess is that he wouldn’t have gone through with the sale if BT4 had been a big hit. Fargo’s always been his own boss. He wants to be the CEO of Interplay-inXile not middle management at Microsoft.

 

[hpstg]

Take-Two won't allow that.

Why not? If it was to be a Windows only release, then even restricting it to Xbox adds an extra platform.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Take-Two won't allow that.

Why not? If it was to be a Windows only release, then even restricting it to Xbox adds an extra platform.

Every job listing has been for a multiplatform game. It was never going to be a Windows only release.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Xbox and Windows are pretty much the same platform these days.

 

[Latelistener]

Why not? If it was to be a Windows only release, then even restricting it to Xbox adds an extra platform.

As it was already said above, Indiana is a big budget multiplatform game. If MS wants it to become an Xbox exclusive they will have to deal with Take-Two first.

And I think it's a bit too late for this game to be an Xbox Next launch title. It will probably come out the next year.

 

[hpstg]

The next gen Xbox / PS will come when 7nm is mature enough for large chip production, which would put them in early 2020. Considering the advantages coming to Obsidian with MS funding, I can see them polishing the game until the next consoles are out.

Microsoft might just buy off whatever Take Two has contributed to this point, and make it an MS exclusive, or buy them out a bit less and make it a timed exclusive.

I guess we'll see.

 

[selkin]

Anyhow, Microsoft will probably just breath down on their neck, and then it may take a failed/buggy/unsuccessful game to remove Urquhart.
Hope that game will be something else than Indiana.

edit: It's totally plausible that Urquhart made a stupid deal like that. Imo. Of course we know almost nothing and this whole thing is just speculation.

 

[Love]

I'm really curious what the real intension of M$ is. There are so many completely opposite possibilities.

In light of those acquisitions I would go with sheer incompetence.

 

[Country_Gravy]

Their continued employment is contingent on Metacritic scores.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Wanna bet that Microsoft will treat them properly and they'll manage to shit the bed by themselves once again?

I'll absolutely take that bet.

One of them will be closed down by 2021/2022.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Microsoft has made an another bad deal, like the thing with Nokia and the Windows Phone. And either they are attracted by decline or Wasteland 4 FP ARPG incoming.

Wasteland: New Nevada.

 

[TedNugent]

The idea that this doesn't result in their being shut down....

Someone either forgot their meds or was twirling their mustache when they made this purchase. I legitimately don't believe the bullshit about creative freedom. There are some good things about Microsoft studios, but caretaking small studios has not been their forte, creative freedom notwithstanding.

What you gain in the short term mist bw weighed against the potential long term loss of both studios to corporate downsizing. They are now subject to the whim of some executive and accountant's fancy.

 

[Zeriel]

Xbox and Windows are pretty much the same platform these days.

I think you mean Xbox and Windows 10. Pretty important distinction to make.

 

[Father Foreskin]

Microsoft exclusives have always been utter bombastic diarrhea since Halo1. They dont make RPGs. The last one was cancelled, it was dragonfuck or whatever. If you believe any new projects announced by obs or inx will be an rpg you have to be the kind of person who constantly buys shit from telemarketers.

 

[SlumLord]

Longtime lurker here... I registered just so I could comment in this thread.

I get why Fergus sold Obsidian, as they haven't had a hit in years. Also, Avellone mentioned that they don't budget more than 2 months in advance. That kind of myopic business practice never ends well, but Ferg and the gang finally managed get that buyout they were after for years (if gossip here and on other sites is to be believed). Props to them, I guess, they 'made it' (the quality of their present and future products is a whole different can of worms).

As far as Fargo is concerned, all that keeps rattling in my head is a resounding 'WHY?'. Wasn't he independently wealthy, even prior to opening Inexile?. I remember someone (somewhere) saying how the man comes from a banking family (can't recall if it was a thread here on the Dex, or Twitter). Anyway, why would he sell his company if money isn't an issue? All he's gaining in the process is a corporate leash, and it's doubtful the projects they'll work on under MS will be much better than their standard fare so far. People are the driving engine behind any product, and it doesn't matter how much money you throw at something if the individuals behind it aren't up to snuff. Not saying their next game will be bad, but there's a non-trivial chance it won't be good either. I mean, if they weren't able to coordinate a small and agile team into leveraging a significant amount of Kickstarter money into a well-made Wasteland 2 and Torment, then what's gonna happen when they get an influx of MS $$$ and bloat to twice the size?

And Fargo doesn't strike me as the moneygrubbing sort (not nearly as much as Fergus, anyway). So what's he after? Recognition? Fame? The prestige of running a studio that works on AAA Skyrim-esque walking sims? What's his endgame?

 

[Bohr]

Anyway, at the risk of giving Taluntain ideas, it seems someone's got some more cash to splash

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Microsoft exclusives have always been utter bombastic diarrhea since Halo1. They dont make RPGs. The last one was cancelled, it was dragonfuck or whatever. If you believe any new projects announced by obs or inx will be an rpg you have to be the kind of person who constantly buys shit from telemarketers.

Dragon what?

Spoiler

So that’s how these companies feel about the consumer.

 

[selkin]

Longtime lurker here... I registered just so I could comment in this thread.

I get why Fergus sold Obsidian, as they haven't had a hit in years. Also, Avellone mentioned that they don't budget more than 2 months in advance. That kind of myopic business practice never ends well, but Ferg and the gang finally managed get that buyout they were after for years (if gossip here and on other sites is to be believed). Props to them, I guess, they 'made it' (the quality of their present and future products is a whole different can of worms).

As far as Fargo is concerned, all that keeps rattling in my head is a resounding 'WHY?'. Wasn't he independently wealthy, even prior to opening Inexile?. I remember someone (somewhere) saying how the man comes from a banking family (can't recall if it was a thread here on the Dex, or Twitter). Anyway, why would he sell his company if money isn't an issue? All he's gaining in the process is a corporate leash, and it's doubtful the projects they'll work on under MS will be much better than their standard fare so far. People are the driving engine behind any product, and it doesn't matter how much money you throw at something if the individuals behind it aren't up to snuff. Not saying their next game will be bad, but there's a non-trivial chance it won't be good either. I mean, if they weren't able to coordinate a small and agile team into leveraging a significant amount of Kickstarter money into a well-made Wasteland 2 and Torment, then what's gonna happen when they get an influx of MS $$$ and bloat to twice the size?

And Fargo doesn't strike me as the moneygrubbing sort (not nearly as much as Fergus, anyway). So what's he after? Recognition? Fame? The prestige of running a studio that works on AAA Skyrim-esque walking sims? What's his endgame?

I think you are underestimating how costly and hard to make a game. Even though you are right, and it's the management who wasn't working efficiently on keeping the games' scope and production goals within realistic limits and boundaries. It's easy to spend Kickstarter dollars in no time.

And this is how Fargo's sell makes sense. He may be wealthy, but not enough so to finance a whole studio for years.
So he probably just wants to be there when his studio produces something significant again. Who wouldn't want to be there.

 

[SlumLord]

selkin

I have no idea how Fargo expects his team to produce anything of worth when they've had 16 years to do so, with almost unlimited autonomy, and all they've managed are duds.

 

[selkin]

selkin

I have no idea how Fargo expects his team to produce anything of worth when they've had 16 years to do so, with almost unlimited autonomy, and all they've managed are duds.

That's true and also sad, but I believe Fargo wanted to make something big, but without the funds it's just not possible. Good games are not made out of autonomy solely. Rather a shitload of money, self sacrificing creators, and pure luck. Although it's entirely possible that even having all of the above Fargo would have managed to mess up. In the end, there must be a reason why Interplay went down. Maybe it was not Fargo, anyway we don't know much about the whole Interplay catastrophe. Or maybe it's just me who didn't pay attention. Anyhow, I never got to know who was responsible for selling out Fallout after seeing how successful the first game was. Also, who alienated Boyarsky, Tim Cain, and Jason Anderson away.

 

[SlumLord]

That's true and also sad, but I believe Fargo wanted to make something big, but without the funds it's just not possible.

Can't make something big without first cutting one's teeth on something small. Gotta have quality in a tiny package before you can scale it up into a bigger project. Inexile never went past this first obstacle (I'd argue that neither did Obsidian, though they manage to camouflage it better).

Although it's entirely possible that even having all of the above Fargo would have managed to mess up

I'd bet on it. The man is a terrible manager.

In the end, there must be a reason why Interplay went down.

Consoles. Look it up; they wanted to enter the console market, and aggressively pushed into it while neglecting PC properties which were feeding them money.

Also, who alienated Boyarsky, Tim Cain, and Jason Anderson away.

Interplay boneheads (Fargo among them). Tim spoke a bit about why he left in one of his presentations - the gist of it is that Fargo and Interplay refused to discuss royalties (fair enough, that's just business) while also allowing people who didn't believe in Fallout to run roughshod over the design and development of the sequel (dumb move). Cain got fed up with the loss of autonomy, and bailed, taking a few key people with him.

 

[selkin]

I totally agree, smaller, better quality games first, and scale up later.

Yeah, I watched that presentation, and Tim was quite diplomatic in a way he didn't mention Fargo, but thinking about it, Fargo must have been responsible for some degree.
I understand the original creators (Tim, Leonard, Jason and the others) wanted royalties, but on the other hand Interplay had all the rights. There is no excuse for letting dimwits touch the development of the sequel though.

 

[SlumLord]

There is no excuse for letting dimwits touch the development of the sequel though.

Yup. But it's the nature of things - creatives getting pushed aside by suits and leeches once the money starts rolling in. Hollywood's pretty much the same story, where anything good usually withers and wanes once idiot executives get their mitts on it. IIRC James Cameron once had to go postal to prevent a junior exec from having his way with the Avatar script. Just goes to show you how unbalanced the leverage is in most industries between corporate and even superstar employees.