Interview The Outer Worlds is a commercial success, patches and sequel on the way

[luj1]

This was supposed to be the last nail in Obsidians coffin! Why did this game sell well?

I just can't understand this.

Everyone knows that 2 weeks isn't an adequate interval to claim any kind of 'commercial success'. That's why there were no numbers cited in the article. Remember Infinitron is an influencer, he does this stuff in exhange for a few keys.

 

[Jimmious]

The gates of decline are now open. This game will kill a good portion of upcoming RPGs like nuXcom killed TB tactical games.

This potentially one of the statements that I disagree the most, ever (gaming wise).
nuXCOMs might not have been what older fans would have wanted but they definetely, absolutely REVIVED the genre, not killed it. It was nearly dead before they came to be. We would only get obscure half-cooked indies like Extraterrestrials or what have you. After nuXCOMs , TB tactical games are popping out like crazy and certainly there are some that you would enjoy too.

 

[cvv]

Overall this is net positive tho. Can't expect anything from Obsidian or Kwan devs in general obviously, TOW 2 gonna be just as woke and ugly, probably more, and so will be everything coming from America in the foreseeable future.

But maybe someone out there will finally see that while RPGs won't make you billions they won't lose you money either, that they are a safe bet if you do things reasonably right. Maybe a few Eastern Yuro devs will be thrown a few more crumbs from the table and we'll see more FP RPGs, which I like very much, only this time well written and designed. The inevitable smash success of Cyberpunk should help too.

 

[Van-d-all]

TB tactical games are popping out like crazy

No. What's popping like crazy are shit games mimicking retarded nuXcom mechanics. Class restricted equipment, stats streamlined to oblivion, MMO cooldown abilities, squad sizes reduced to minimum. Yay! REVIVAL!11.

and certainly there are some that you would enjoy too.

Oh the, assumptions. Just the fact you're able to enjoy the 2AP trash, doesn't mean everyone does. The ones I enjoy, like Battle Brothers or Xenonauts have abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with existence of nuXcom.

Paradoxically the only thing that became a counter balance to this garbage is the success of D:OS1 & 2 spawning a slew of western tactical fantasy RPGs, some of which might actually be decent.

 

[Jimmious]

Not all games are 2AP. There are a LOT of TB tactics games coming out. Sure a lot follow the 2AP thing because it was successful but you have to understand that before nuXCOM we almost had NOTHING, for years. A game mechanic that you don't like doesn't mean that they didn't reanimate the genre

 

[GrainWetski]

This potentially one of the statements that I disagree the most, ever (gaming wise).
nuXCOMs might not have been what older fans would have wanted but they definetely, absolutely REVIVED the genre, not killed it. It was nearly dead before they came to be. We would only get obscure half-cooked indies like Extraterrestrials or what have you. After nuXCOMs , TB tactical games are popping out like crazy and certainly there are some that you would enjoy too.

They killed it because all games aping FiraXCOM might as well not exist.

 

[Jimmious]

I completely disagree but I can't change your taste so there's no point in arguing. I find fun in the 2AP system too. It's more simplistic and boardgame-y but that doesn't mean it's bad.

 

[Van-d-all]

before nuXCOM we almost had NOTHING

Western games were just rare, as they used to be, because it was a niche genre. What happened here was the pauperization of said genre, so while number of games boomed, there's still nothing, because said games lack the distinctive elements that made TB tactical games good. It's like saying checkers revived chess.

doesn't mean it's bad.

Yeah, it's worse than bad. It's an extinction-class event. I'm calling the WHO.

 

[Jimmious]

before nuXCOM we almost had NOTHING

Western games were just rare, as they used to be, because it was a niche genre. What happened here was the pauperization of said genre, so while number of games boomed, there's still nothing, because said games lack the distinctive elements that made TB tactical games good. It's like saying checkers revived chess.

I believe that the genre simply found a way to adapt and get a broader audience - therefore financially survive.
I love games like JA2 naturally and I wish someone would manage to make something like that again, but seeing what happened to all efforts to follow it... doesn't make me very optimistic.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

 

[Van-d-all]

I believe that the genre simply found a way to adapt and get a broader audience - therefore financially survive.

I'm a consumer, I don't care about some broad stroke concept of "genre". I care about the product, and despite the mental gymnastics of various distributors to sell me those games as TB tactical, they just don't fit the description. It's like peddling no-age-statement piss as whiskey nowadays.

 

[Jimmious]

They are tactical and they are TB. They just have some abstract mechanics, less simulation.
The fact that you specifically want your games to be full-on simulations is fine, but that doesn't exclude games from the broader category.
It would be interesting to know what you define as TB tactics. Was Battle Brothers TB tactics? Was Hard West? Mutant Year Zero? Warbanners?
Did you not like any of these?

 

[Van-d-all]

BB is tactical TB of course, one of the best.

Hard West as well, but the setting didn't grab me enough to have an opinion on it's mechanics.

Dropped MYZ on behalf of nuXcom gameplay. It's actually one of the coffin nails why I begrudge Firaxis' influence.

Warbanners is more of an strategy game. Didn't play it, since I still haven't finished all the Panzer Corps campaigns.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

This was supposed to be the last nail in Obsidians coffin! Why did this game sell well?

I just can't understand this.

Obsidian: I am become nuBethesda, destroyer of tastes.

 

[turkishronin]

we live in a society

 

[Diggfinger]

Yay! So happy...well done, Tim and Leonard!

They're back and the new game's off to a flying start....which means they get to make more games

 

[Trashos]

Disgusting title, Infinitron.

 

[ArchAngel]

BB is tactical TB of course, one of the best.

Hard West as well, but the setting didn't grab me enough to have an opinion on it's mechanics.

Dropped MYZ on behalf of nuXcom gameplay. It's actually one of the coffin nails why I begrudge Firaxis' influence.

Warbanners is more of an strategy game. Didn't play it, since I still haven't finished all the Panzer Corps campaigns.

Seriously? Hard West copies nuXcom mechanics but does it even simpler.

 

[overly excitable young man]

I'm happy for the people of Obsidian.
They try their best.

 

[Trashos]

This was supposed to be the last nail in Obsidians coffin! Why did this game sell well?

I just can't understand this.

I don't know why it was supposed to be a nail in the coffin, this was always (well, ever since FONV) a good idea. But you don't just enter a huge market that is dominated by a strong player.

However, the strong player made mistakes and grew weak. Challengers started smelling blood.

<insert pic of Bill Gates smiling>

This is all my hypothesis, but it is probably true.

 

[Van-d-all]

BB is tactical TB of course, one of the best.

Hard West as well, but the setting didn't grab me enough to have an opinion on it's mechanics.

Dropped MYZ on behalf of nuXcom gameplay. It's actually one of the coffin nails why I begrudge Firaxis' influence.

Warbanners is more of an strategy game. Didn't play it, since I still haven't finished all the Panzer Corps campaigns.

Seriously? Hard West copies nuXcom mechanics but does it even simpler.

It's possible, I don't even play it enough to remember.

 

[laclongquan]

This was supposed to be the last nail in Obsidians coffin! Why did this game sell well?

I just can't understand this.

A game that can run well on day 1 release. THAT, for Obsidian, is a marvel. Take Bloodlines for example. If it had been released nearly bug-free like this one Troika would prosper like CDPR.

That plus their usual qualities, however lessened this time, help for a bland AAA game.

Now we can pray for DLC to provide flavor for this white bread experience.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Frankly, I am a bit staggered at the news of no DLC, since this is where Obsidian excels.

They never said no DLC, they just haven’t announced anything or even referenced the idea in passing. Leonard has suggested there was a lot of cut content—the grayed out planets may originally have been actual hubs—so in theory it might not be too hard to turn some of that into DLC.

But now that Microsoft owns Obsidian, they have a huge incentive to skip right to the sequel. Any DLC for The Outer Worlds would be published by Private Division, meaning PD keeps most of the profits, while it sounds like Outer Worlds 2 would be published by Microsoft. So making DLC may be a waste of manpower from Microsoft’s perspective—makes much more financial sense to put the whole team on a project where Microsoft keeps all the money.

 

[Serious_Business]

white bread experience.

P. sweet, but according to the guy, all bread isn't good for your health. We should enter a life program where we do not eat bread, stop drinking alcohol, never masturbate, always think positive thoughts, clean our room, you know the drill. So, where does that leave us with the white bread experience? Right in the fucking gutter, right? Do you want to be a real man or not? Do you want to be a Conqueror? An Alpha Male? Then eat your fucking white bread, you fucking asshole. Just eat that shit, gobble it right up. You too can also be a Commercial Success one day. You know you deeply need this

 

[Trashos]

Now that I think about it, a possible success for TOW has a dark poetic vibe to it.

- Cainarsky do their best with Troika, they run out of luck and publisher support. They get Microsoft to watch their back, and "suddenly" they get all the luck they ever needed, all the while they are singing anti-capitalist manifestos. At the same time, they get one back for losing their beloved Fallout IP.

- Obsidian gets demolished by Bethesda right after they develop the best nuFallout title ever. They barely survive, but they survive. They eventually go on to stick a finger unto Bethesda's anus with TOW.

- Bethesda hits the mother load with their IPs, on top of that they get Fallout, and they laugh all the way to the bank. They dominate the market, doing their best to stop anyone else who might prove dangerous. But they grow arrogant and weak, and eventually fail to adapt to new challenges successfully. The time for their demise may have come. <insert pic of Gates, Cainarsky, Feargus hugging and singing kumbaya>

This is some Age of Decadence level of shit right there.