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Interview Feargus Urquhart talks about Obsidian's plans, says next Kickstarter delayed to early fall

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Tags: Armored Warfare; Feargus Urquhart; Obsidian Entertainment

In an interview over at Eurogamer, Feargus Urquhart spoke about Obsidian's new game, and also about their plans for the near future. We don't care about the former, but do care very much about the latter. I quote:

The other important thing to know about Armored Warfare is that this isn't the end of Obsidian making the type of role-playing games you've come to expect.

"It really is a shift for us," acknowledged Feargus Urquhart, "but it's not a permanent shift - that's an important thing. We still are about our core thing of character story-driven role-playing games, and that's, with Pillars of Eternity, what we're doing. We're seeing what more we can do there.

"Ultimately what we really want to do is be a studio that is making those big role-playing games. We want to make the Fallout: New Vegas's, we want to make the Skyrims, we want to make the KOTORs, and we have to get there - we have to get there in a number of different ways, and in a way that works as an independent developer."

The studio is working on something else besides all of the above as well.

"We actually have a couple of other things starting up - we're trying some slightly smaller things," remarked Urquhart.

Those aren't "firmed up" enough to talk about in detail, but when we suggested one or both of them may be Kickstarter-sized projects, like Pillars of Eternity, Urquhart answered, "Well... yeah... one could say." Mind you, he has openly talked about wanting to do this before, and said, back then, that he may reveal what the game is around April-time, which is roughly now.

That's been pushed back.

"South Park consumed more time and so, while we've been working on what that's going to be, we just don't feel like we've gotten it to where we need it to be, so we're going to push that out," he said. "My hope really is to look at an early Fall Kickstarter. We like that as well because we'll be done with Eternity."

"I think we have a pretty cool idea for what that's going to be, but we want to vet it internally a little bit more. It gives us time, and then people don't think we're just going to use the money to finish Eternity."
Is Eternity really going to be finished by "early fall"? I thought it was winter. Most people still can't believe they're going to finish it this year. Feargus gonna Feargus, I suppose. He's also very enamoured with the Star Wars franchise:

What's the other smaller project? It's unclear. But it's not, it sounds like, anything Star Wars related, despite the pitch that was sent to Disney, despite Urquhart's invincible enthusiasm for the brand.

"It's in the same place," he said of the pitch. "It's the same answer: we'd love to make a Star Wars game - I love Star Wars."

But making games on that scale is "super scary" - hiring all those people, handling all that money and expectation. As an independent developer he questions taking on any project of that magnitude. But Star Wars? Star Wars he could bend the rules for.

"Star Wars is one of those games that makes me just throw the reasons, throw my right brain or left brain - I don't know which one it is - and say, 'Oh this is totally stupid to do, but, whatever!' It would be that game, and I hope some day we get to make another Star Wars game.

"I always thought - and everyone just looks at me strangely when I say this - it would be cool to do a Star Wars Pillars of Eternity-style game, where you had a little party, a droid and a... whatever. That would be super-cool. I'd buy it!

"But that's a hard [sell]... That's not SWTOR and that's not KOTOR and that's not Battlefront and that's not that. I don't know - I'm probably going to take a stab at that and see if anybody has any interest, but I don't know - we'll see."​

I'd buy that too. Maybe it could even be a BioWare-Obsidian joint production! :smug:
 

Arkeus

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Eternity in Fall kinda means it may come out at the same time as WL2. Ouch.
 
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I would say that Obsidian took on Armored Warfare for no other reason than because the KickStarter phenomenon liberated them from the compulsion to exclusively develop character-driven RPGs. Before they had a brand name to maintain in the consideration of product development -- they couldn't do other work without damaging that name and losing whatever consumer attention their reputation gave them -- but now they can maintain that name (1) better than they have with recent AAA releases and (2) at much cheaper cost.

This is pretty much the sort of work they said they were phasing into since retiring Onyx.

What's the other smaller project? It's unclear. But it's not, it sounds like, anything Star Wars related, despite the pitch that was sent to Disney, despite Urquhart's invincible enthusiasm for the brand.

"It's in the same place," he said of the pitch. "It's the same answer: we'd love to make a Star Wars game - I love Star Wars."

But making games on that scale is "super scary" - hiring all those people, handling all that money and expectation. As an independent developer he questions taking on any project of that magnitude. But Star Wars? Star Wars he could bend the rules for.

"Star Wars is one of those games that makes me just throw the reasons, throw my right brain or left brain - I don't know which one it is - and say, 'Oh this is totally stupid to do, but, whatever!' It would be that game, and I hope some day we get to make another Star Wars game.

"I always thought - and everyone just looks at me strangely when I say this - it would be cool to do a Star Wars Pillars of Eternity-style game, where you had a little party, a droid and a... whatever. That would be super-cool. I'd buy it!

"But that's a hard [sell]... That's not SWTOR and that's not KOTOR and that's not Battlefront and that's not that. I don't know - I'm probably going to take a stab at that and see if anybody has any interest, but I don't know - we'll see."

Haha, that'd be great. Sadly, we'll probably have to live wth the fact that quality Star Wars is lost to us forever.
 
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Frankly, if Obsidian wants to make another Star Wars RPG at Pillars-level graphical quality, they would probably be better off creating their own "Star Wars" insipired setting, inasmuch as Mass Effect lifted from Star Trek/Battlestar Galactica. It will sell somewhat less well, but at least they get all of the money and have all of the control.

Sucks not being part of the tradition, but whatever. Make a better tradition.

EDIT:

Seriously, just:

(1) flowing garments that draw on both Eastern and Western visual sensibilities

(2) large and cumbersome galaxy spanning socio-political factions with classical style mixture of democracy and aristocracy. Hey, make it the entire universe while you're at it, Dune-style. With science-fiction this soft who cares?

(3) hokey religions, ancient weapons, and smugglers with good blasters. The elegant simplicity of the lightsaber is hard to match, but creating some kind of cool plasma-themed sword (and an ancient order of knights to go with it) shouldn't be too hard

(4) Take the opportunity to odd more geographic variation to the planetary climates so that it looks and feels slightly less ridiculous

(5) cool people in cool places doing cool stuff

There you go. That's 90% of Star Wars.
 
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Decado

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I am so fucking tired of hearing about Star Wars. Let that boring piece of shit franchise fucking die already. Who cares. WHO THE FUCK CARES. Goddamn it I want to travel back in time and murder Luke Skywalker and all of his fucking worthless superfriends. Fuck Star Wars. FUCK it.
 

jdinatale

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TLDR;

If PoE sells well, they'll make more, if it doesn't they'll make popamole tank shooters.
 

Hormalakh

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honestly, i have to agree: star wars is banal shit boring. I just know they can come up with something so much better. just give them the budget to do it, and they can.

i don't understand feargus's obsession with Star Wars. He's willing to make bad business decisions because of it? Really?
 

aratuk

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I extrapolate teh trend, guys, and it's gonna be Total Superfantasy Mah Jong for iPad.
 
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honestly, i have to agree: star wars is banal shit boring. I just know they can come up with something so much better. just give them the budget to do it, and they can.

i don't understand feargus's obsession with Star Wars. He's willing to make bad business decisions because of it? Really?
It's an ancient stabilished IP with a fanbase that will consume anything labeled with the brand
 

Hormalakh

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it seems that its more than that - he isn't willing to so such things with other brands. methinks that he is a fanboy of that franchise and it would be his life's apex if he could have something else with his name on SW.
 
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No, I don't know maybe you're out of the loop but they are making new Star Wars movies and that's p. huge y'know.
 

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it seems that its more than that - he isn't willing to so such things with other brands. methinks that he is a fanboy of that franchise and it would be his life's apex if he could have something else with his name on SW.

It's an interview. He knows all the geeks are hungry for a KOTOR3 so he's exciting them by saying he'd make that despite his previous statements about AAA

I mean, what's he gonna do, say "No, we don't want to make a KOTOR3 anymore"?
 
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it seems that its more than that - he isn't willing to so such things with other brands. methinks that he is a fanboy of that franchise and it would be his life's apex if he could have something else with his name on SW.

Although it wouldn't surprise me if Urquhart has a degree more passion for Star Wars over other things, there are certain advantages to working on star Wars.

(1) It would bring Kickstarter-sized RPGs to a larger customer base than would otherwise consume them.

(2) It would allow them to establish a working relationship with EA which might result in more tank stuff and/or let them make middleware for Bioware and the other EA studios.
 
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tuluse

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it seems that its more than that - he isn't willing to so such things with other brands. methinks that he is a fanboy of that franchise and it would be his life's apex if he could have something else with his name on SW.
It is. He rejected making a Star Trek game because he thought Obsidian was too good for it.
 

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No, I don't know maybe you're out of the loop but they are making new Star Wars movies and that's p. huge y'know.

I'm hoping that JJ Abrams is the guy that can get it done and finally kill off that piece of shit franchise for good. If anybody can rape the dessicated corpse of a murdered IP into heartless oblivion, it is that shitmagician.
 
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I'm sure in EA's ideal universe Obsidian would have gone the way of Troika years ago. They were useful for LucasArts when it needed an alternative RPG developer to Bioware, but to EA they're a competitor from the same tradition of late 90s role-playing games as their internal RPG studio. It's a cramped market hampered by disagreements over RPG lite streamliners and 'hardcore' RPG fans over which method makes for a more desirable game, and Pillars of Eternity may cramp it up some more.

Now, EA has three choices, Red, Blue, and Green:

Destroy Obsidian -- buy out the company's stock to eliminate its as a competitor. Cannibalize the assets. But the cost is so enormous and the acquisitions so unnecessary that it will undermine their position in the market for years to come.

Control Obsidian -- buy out the company's stock and turn it into a Bioware satellite. But the cost is so enormous and the acquisitions so unnecessary that it will undermine their position in the market for years to come.

Those are the "and the Geth will die" options, but there is another way.

Merge with Obsidian -- Bioware improves itself through technology, and Obsidian improves itself through story and game design. A synthesis will create the network for a new RPG, with Bioware providing the engine and core systems and Obsidian improving upon it with outsourced game designs/middleware.
 
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Athelas

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A competitor? Hardly. Obsidian hasn't made a Bioware-like RPG since before Bioware became part of EA.
 

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Obsidian isn't a publicly held company. EA would literally have to buy out Feargus, Avellone, et all. If EA did that, I'm pretty sure these guys would just use the money to found another RPG studio.
 

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When will Mr Urquhart retire? Who will head Obsidian then? Will Obsidian shut down after their (co-)founders are all tired? Will the brand name be sold to some publishers so Mr.Saywer will still have RPGs to make?
 
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Obsidian isn't a publicly held company. EA would literally have to buy out Feargus, Avellone, et all. If EA did that, I'm pretty sure these guys would just use the money to found another RPG studio.

Yeah, but I had to make things fit the Mass Effect 3 ending template. It's like a "knock-knock" joke.

A competitor? Hardly. Obsidian hasn't made a Bioware-like RPG since before Bioware became part of EA.

Wouldn't go that far. NWN2 and its expansions were contemporaneous with Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect. Obsidian represented some kind of threat to the value of their purchase, although that threat died out on its own.
 

tuluse

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Yeah, but I had to make things fit the Mass Effect 3 ending template. It's like a "knock-knock" joke.
Well your joke is just as well thought out as Mass Effect 3. Zing!
 

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