PorkyThePaladin
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2013
- Messages
- 5,110
So as I posted a while back in one of the PoE threads, despite all the Codex hate PoE was getting in the beta, I expected it to do well since the same pattern repeated itself with D:OS and W2, lots of pre-release hatred, good games released. But I didn't expect it to do this well: 9.2 average on Metacritic, and even mainstream sites like IGN, sort of notorious for ripping on games from smaller studios paying it homage.
Now, because of things like isometric perspective and higher difficulty than modern games, it will never sell like a Skyrim, but with all these great reviews all over the Internet and all the positive feedback on forums, youtube channels, comments and so on, you have to figure this game should sell pretty well, especially by Black Isle/Troika/Obsidian standards. And most of that money should go straight into Obsidian's pockets, because there is no publisher, the costs have been covered by the KS campaign, and the distribution is digital. A percentage will go to Steam, Gog.com, Paradox, etc, but that's got to pale in comparison to the typical cut a combination of publisher and brick and mortar chains would take. Furthermore, Obsidian can make even more money with the announced expansion pack in a few months, since they already have all the technology/systems/design and lore in place, so cranking out some more content within the existing frameworks should be much cheaper and faster.
So what I am thinking is that in the immediate future, Obsidian could be sitting on a rather decently sized pile of money, perhaps more than they have ever had, even during the Black Isle days, considering that Fallout 1 and 2 and PS:T never sold that well. They will also have a lot of goodwill for any future Kickstarter efforts, which is like additional money in the bank. Finally, they will have accumulated a bunch of proprietary technology, such as their customized Unity engine. All of this combined could signal a reincarnation of the old Black Isle Studios (in spirit and function if not in name) as Obsidian changes modes from a severely underfunded service studio for Bethesda and Bioware to a modern day cRPG powerhouse, working on several different games/franchises at once and catering to the more sophisticated PC crowd.
They already have a large portion of the talent from Black Isle days: Avellone, Cain, Sawyer, Feargus, etc, and perhaps with this infusion of money, they could bring some of the other pieces back, like hiring Leonard Boyarski back from Blizzard (where he has got to be bored with the stuff they do nowadays) and Jason Anderson wherever he is. There are also lots of other game developers out there who could probably do much greater things at Obsidian than at whatever company they are at right now, guys like Ziets.
It will be interesting to see what direction they will go from here because Obsidian has never been in this position before. They were always constrained by either their overlord companies and backer wishes OR by lack of money (in Alpha Protocol's case), but now, for the first time since Black Isle/Troika days, they might have both the creative freedom and the finances to really do whatever they want. Things should get quite interesting.
Now, because of things like isometric perspective and higher difficulty than modern games, it will never sell like a Skyrim, but with all these great reviews all over the Internet and all the positive feedback on forums, youtube channels, comments and so on, you have to figure this game should sell pretty well, especially by Black Isle/Troika/Obsidian standards. And most of that money should go straight into Obsidian's pockets, because there is no publisher, the costs have been covered by the KS campaign, and the distribution is digital. A percentage will go to Steam, Gog.com, Paradox, etc, but that's got to pale in comparison to the typical cut a combination of publisher and brick and mortar chains would take. Furthermore, Obsidian can make even more money with the announced expansion pack in a few months, since they already have all the technology/systems/design and lore in place, so cranking out some more content within the existing frameworks should be much cheaper and faster.
So what I am thinking is that in the immediate future, Obsidian could be sitting on a rather decently sized pile of money, perhaps more than they have ever had, even during the Black Isle days, considering that Fallout 1 and 2 and PS:T never sold that well. They will also have a lot of goodwill for any future Kickstarter efforts, which is like additional money in the bank. Finally, they will have accumulated a bunch of proprietary technology, such as their customized Unity engine. All of this combined could signal a reincarnation of the old Black Isle Studios (in spirit and function if not in name) as Obsidian changes modes from a severely underfunded service studio for Bethesda and Bioware to a modern day cRPG powerhouse, working on several different games/franchises at once and catering to the more sophisticated PC crowd.
They already have a large portion of the talent from Black Isle days: Avellone, Cain, Sawyer, Feargus, etc, and perhaps with this infusion of money, they could bring some of the other pieces back, like hiring Leonard Boyarski back from Blizzard (where he has got to be bored with the stuff they do nowadays) and Jason Anderson wherever he is. There are also lots of other game developers out there who could probably do much greater things at Obsidian than at whatever company they are at right now, guys like Ziets.
It will be interesting to see what direction they will go from here because Obsidian has never been in this position before. They were always constrained by either their overlord companies and backer wishes OR by lack of money (in Alpha Protocol's case), but now, for the first time since Black Isle/Troika days, they might have both the creative freedom and the finances to really do whatever they want. Things should get quite interesting.