Development Info Aliens RPG cancelled, Obsidian fires staff, future in doubt

[The Feral Kid]

Sega don't have a good track record, do they?

So does Obsidian. Instead of seeing another property after Kotor and FR being fucked by Obsidian I'd rather not see it at all. They can mess will all their shitty IPs for all I care.

 

[McShifty]

Five bucks says Obsidian ends up doing the next Sonic RPG, continuing the epic Bioware coattail riding.

 

[Xor]

God dammit, why do all the good RPG developers die while Bioware still turns out crap every year or so?

 

[OSK]

God dammit, why do all the good RPG developers die while Bioware still turns out crap every year or so?

People buy that crap every year or so.

 

[The Feral Kid]

God dammit, why do all the good RPG developers die while Bioware still turns out crap every year or so?

That could be a problem. Looks like now that Obshitian is gone Bioware will need to find a new "crapper".

 

[Anthony Davis]

You can have my Obsidian Developer tag when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

 

[WanderingThrough2]

Live by the licensed IP, die by the licensed IP. This is a classic example of a company that if it goes down, will go down not because of creativity but because of making licensed nonsense and hybrid sell-outs. If they'd stuck to Bioware handouts, they would've been fine.

 

[Forest Dweller]

I sense butthurt in these dev posts. More confirmation, I suppose.

Though I would be pissed too, no doubt about it.

Best-case scenario: Obsidian tweakes the Aliens game to remove any references to the franchise, and then finds another publisher for their "original IP." Not much time is wasted.

Worse-case scenario: The game is unsalvagable, putting Obsidian back several years and hurting them financially.

Worst possible outcome: Same as above, except that they don't recover and go bankrupt.

I hope it's number 1, but if the layoffs are also true then it is probably number 2. I don't even want to think about the third option. If Obsidian goes tits up like Troika did then we truly will only have indies to look forward to.

 

[HanoverF]

Best-case scenario: Obsidian tweakes the Aliens game to remove any references to the franchise, and then finds another publisher for their "original IP." Not much time is wasted.

Shop it to Games Workshop as Space Hulk

 

[Davaris]

Best-case scenario: Obsidian tweakes the Aliens game to remove any references to the franchise, and then finds another publisher for their "original IP." Not much time is wasted.

They'd have to throw all of the art out and start again. That's probably most of their budget right there.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Maybe they could modify it slightly and change the names?

 

[Mantiis]

Yer let's kick 'em while they are down.

You guys are dicks.

 

[Ogg]

Sega's sense of humor: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6204611.html

RIP Obsidian. Who's to write the obituary?

 

[Talby]

It's tragic that Obsidian is going to die before they made any good games.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Good night sweet prince.

Sucks for Sawyer, another game of his canceled by inept publishers. First Herve, then Herve again, now Sega.

All assuming "indefinite hold" means what it normally means, of course.

 

[Davaris]

Maybe they could modify it slightly and change the names?

Like most studios, I assume they have been paid to make this game per milestone, so they wouldn't own what they are working on.

EDIT
The publisher model sucks for us, because games for low brows seem to get made most of the time.

 

[catfood]

Dang it! and I was looking forward to the Aliens game much more than AP.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Like most studios, I assume they have been paid to make this game per milestone, so they wouldn't own what they are working on.

Are you saying that Sega could literally take all that Obsidian has done on the game, dump that shit on another studio, and get the game made without any further involvement from Obsidian?

Or am I reading too much into your post?

 

[Davaris]

Sega could do what you suggest, as everything is handed over at the milestones, but I can't see them doing that, as by the time they restart the project, the engine would be out of date and the assets could be out of date as well (everything must be next gen!)

Also they've lost all the art people that gave the project its unique look and the guys that know the code are working elsewhere as well. They could get new coders in, but they could take months to get up to speed.

So once you pull the plug on something that big, there's no easy way to bring it back.

 

[bhlaab]

At least we still have

um

bethesda?

 

[Andhaira]

Sad news to hear Obsidian in trouble.

The game industry is in the same dire straits as when Baldurs Gate 1 was published and rescued the crpg genre and brought about an instant revival that lingers to this very day.

Will Dragon Age do the same?

 

[MetalCraze]

Baldurs Gate 1 was published and rescued the crpg genre

Holy fucking shit

 

[Kingston]

"That's great, this is really fuckin' great, man. Now, what the fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some pretty shit now, man."

 

[DriacKin]

This is sad news for me.
If Obsidian goes under, I guess that makes CD Projekt the only other mainstream RPG studio that I have even the slightest bit of faith in.

 

[Azael]

They're coming outta the walls. They're coming outta the goddamn walls. Let's book!