Company News Feargus Urquhart talks about the decline of AAA and the future of Obsidian at KRI 2013

[Infinitron]

Tags: Allods Team; Feargus Urquhart; Obsidian Entertainment; Skyforge

Many of you have probably heard by now about the unexpected news that Obsidian Entertainment would be collaborating with Russian developer Allods Team in the development of their upcoming MMORPG, Skyforge. GamesIndustry was one of the first sites to break the news:

Mail.ru has annnounced that Obsidian Entertainment and Allods Team are teaming up to develop Skyforge, a new MMORPG for PC. The partnership was announced today at KRI 2013, the Russian Game Developer's Conference.​

"Skyforge is very interesting and promising project. I am glad that Obsidian Entertainment is involved in working on this game," said Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart. "I am confident that the cooperation with the Allods Team will be a great experience for all of us."​

Skyforge was first announced back in May 2012 under the development of Allods Team. The game is expected to launch on PC in 2014.​

We don't know yet exactly what role Obsidian will play in the development of Skyforge, but the following video from the KRI 2013 Russian Game Developers Conference may shed light on their motives for entering this new and unknown market. The first half of the video is a half-hour presentation by Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart about the state of the AAA gaming industry and Obsidian's plans for the future.

​

Takeaways from the presentation:

• Feargus feels that developing AAA games for the next generation of consoles will not be a feasible prospect for independent developers like Obsidian. Most if not all future AAA games, he says, will be developed by wholly owned subsidiary developers of large publishers.
• As such, Obsidian plans on transitioning into the PC and tablet space, as well as becoming a developer that develops "parts of games" for larger studios. Feargus wants to try to bring a more serious, hardcore type of RPG to mobile platforms. He also implies that Obsidian will keep on using Kickstarter in the future.
• A possible exception to this rule is the development of same-engine spinoffs like Fallout: New Vegas, which Feargus says had a much lower budget than many people might assume. He implies that Bethesda-style sandbox games are relatively cheap to develop compared to the "cinematic cutscene corridor" model of most contemporary AAA titles.
• The biggest news from the presentation is the announcement that Obsidian's Onyx engine will be scrapped. Feargus says it's simply too costly to maintain compared to using existing third party engines like Unreal, CryEngine and especially Unity. However, the auxiliary tools that Obsidian has developed for use with Onyx, such as their dialogue editor, will be kept and adapted for use with other engines.

So, is this the beginning of a new era for Obsidian, or is Feargus just hyping things up to impress his new Russian partners? Only time will tell.

 

[Roguey]

"Bethesda, please let us make Fallout 4: Spin-off, we will make so much money 4 u" -- Feargus Urquhart

 

[Infinitron]

"Bethesda, please let us make Fallout 4: Spin-off, we will make so much money 4 u" -- Feargus Urquhart

Bethesda, please let them make Fallout 4: Spin-off because it'll be a less shitty game.

Hey, whatever works.

 

[Roguey]

Just as long as you-know-who is doing the systems again.

 

[Gurkog]

I think that the console manufacturers are taking steps to minimize the effect of reinventing the wheel for the next generation and, without a doubt, will probably be functional PC's in the next generation or 2 after. They have to realize that the barrier to entry has to be kept low for developers if they want to have any product to sell for their consoles. Microsoft and Sony are both used to forcing everyone to play their games, but continuing that practice will just make all of the studios find new playgrounds. Although... Microsoft probably doesn't care if the next shitbox fails as long as their competitors sink with them. I would not put it past M$ to intentionally force an arms race in order to bankrupt Sony's gaming division, especially since Sony has been bleeding cash for several years now.

If they would just all die we could have a proper PC gaming market.

 

[stony3k]

If they would just all die we could have a proper PC gaming market.

You'll just have folks move to the tablet market and the OUYA (and its ilk) market, etc. There will always be a lot of fools in the world

 

[M0RBUS]

As such, Obsidian plans on transitionining into the PC and tablet space

Fuck off, you all go die in a corner, I don't want your shit. It was plain and obvious that going indie was the way to go... FIVE YEARS AGO. Now you're late and console tainted. You can suck my dick, I ain't paying you for your stupid PC and tabled games.

 

[Infinitron]

As such, Obsidian plans on transitionining into the PC and tablet space

Fuck off, you all go die in a corner, I don't want your shit. It was plain and obvious that going indie was the way to go... FIVE YEARS AGO. Now you're late and console tainted. You can suck my dick, I ain't paying you for your stupid PC and tabled games.

Who said anything about going indie?

 

[Gurkog]

Wait.. they are not independent because they made console games? Does not compute.

 

[M0RBUS]

As such, Obsidian plans on transitionining into the PC and tablet space

Fuck off, you all go die in a corner, I don't want your shit. It was plain and obvious that going indie was the way to go... FIVE YEARS AGO. Now you're late and console tainted. You can suck my dick, I ain't paying you for your stupid PC and tabled games.

Who said anything about going indie?

True. I fixed it. What I meant was really PC-only.

Wait.. they are not independent because they made console games? Does not compute.

As fan doesn't mean fanatical, so doesn't indie mean independent. Or so I thought? At any rate, I didn't mean it like that. I mean it PC-only, PC-centered, developing for a targeted audience.

 

[Infinitron]

As such, Obsidian plans on transitionining into the PC and tablet space

Fuck off, you all go die in a corner, I don't want your shit. It was plain and obvious that going indie was the way to go... FIVE YEARS AGO. Now you're late and console tainted. You can suck my dick, I ain't paying you for your stupid PC and tabled games.

Who said anything about going indie?

True. I fixed it. What I meant was really PC-only.

Well anyways people have already given them 4 million dollars for a PC exclusive CRPG so you kinda missed the train there

 

[Brayko]

Wow Fargo has really influenced Obsidian it seems.

 

[Excidium]

Obsidian has truly hit rock-bottom.

 

[circ]

Where's the slam-dunk?

 

[Brayko]

And with Tim Cain being a senior programmer and Obsidian apparently moving less towards consoles I really don't see how this is a bad thing them switching gears and all.

 

[winterraptor]

Tablet adaptions, guys. But see, Fargo is one step ahead of them...

T:TN The Tablet Game: Race against the clock to outrun The Angel of Entropy's fevered pursuit to consume you whole! In this ground-breaking side-scrolling platformer, numerous exciting obstacles and barriers will assail your quest to find The Changing God, your sire and your salvation. Power-up with the amazing relics left from thousands of bygone civilizations across a billion years of time and explore their strange vistas and mysterious temples, while eluding the imminent threat of The Angel and his dread minions. Find other Castoffs in your quest who will grant permanent benefits - if you can discover them in time! Use The Meres, special ancient devices, to switch into their minds and bodies temporarily, having entirely new powers to slay minions and beat back the horrible force that nags your every step. But pray your fingers are fast enough - Torment is the price of failure!

Choose one of five colors, or 'Tides', each with their own special attack, and begin your death-defying journey NOW!!!

DOWNLOAD 1.99$

 

[Infinitron]

If Feargus isn't exaggerating things then I could see them putting out Project Eternity for iOS at some point. Though probably not a multiplatform release cause they know it'll be a shitstorm

 

[Brayko]

First it was the fear of dumbing down for consoles, now it's the fear of dumbing down for tablets. I wouldn't worry about it right off the bat because they know the rabid state of mind a good chunk of their backers are in.

Also, the pressure to "dumb down for tablets" is far far more minimal considering the low budget costs of tablet games.

 

[Grim Monk]

With regards to not being able to develop in-house engines...

List of Unreal Engine games:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unreal_Engine_games

 

[~RAGING BONER~]

Laundering Russian mob money eh? could be worse, could be owned by EA.

Moving away from consoles can only be good for obsidian. It's painfully obvious that portable devices are the wave of the future, consoles are a stale shit dead end.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I ain't touching that Russian MMO shit even with a long pole. Even if they collaborated with Obsidian.
Skyforge looks fucking awful. My eyes were bleeding after those pieces of in-game footage.
Without bloom it would look better. And with colors toned down. And without graphics at all.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Also, the pressure to "dumb down for tablets" is far far more minimal considering the low budget costs of tablet games.

What about gameplay? Have tablets evolved to where they can give you the same reactivity as a mouse?

 

[tuluse]

Isn't Obsidian even later than the people who were too late to get into the f2p MMO business?

 

[Jaesun]

No more Onyx??? ;_;

 

[tuluse]

On the other hand, if Obisidan moves more into 1-5 million dollar PC game projects holy shit that would be awesome.