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

[DemonKing]

No more Onyx??? ;_;

Did they even release any games using the engine?

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Second page and not a single mention of "Skyforge"?

"Sky"

"Forge"

"Skyforge"?!

Jesus fucking christ, man. Obsidian just turned into RC Cola.

 

[Jaesun]

No more Onyx??? ;_;

Did they even release any games using the engine?

Dungeon Siege III.

 

[Jasede]

As I said in the other thread I find this a desperate and disappointing move.

 

[Lancehead]

Obsidian probably think going PC-only won't help them sustain, so want to explore tablets. I don't like it unless their tablet games are just spin-offs and not like BGEE.

 

[Jaesun]

As I said in the other thread I find this a desperate and disappointing move.

It greatly depends on HOW they wish to move forward.

If it is in the way inXile is doing (a pure concentration of classic cRPG games and mechanics) that would be great. It's not like the market is currently flooded with those types of Developers.

 

[jewboy]

Feargus spoke very fast for non-native speakers to process. Lucky he had that translator.

 

[Duraframe300]

Edit: Forget this post. Didn't read right.

 

[DemonKing]

No more Onyx??? ;_;

Did they even release any games using the engine?

Dungeon Siege III.

Oh...of course...how could I forget!

 

[Arkeus]

• 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.

Well... The bad part is they probably spent a LOT of money into an engine they just scrapped.

The good parts are a°) They are able to cut their loss when need be and not be too prideful over it; b°) This means they REALLY like unity, which probably means that they are doing really well with PE.

 

[KevinV12000]

One thing I would ask people to keep in mind when commenting on the business side of things is just how difficult it is to run a business like game development in today's market. This is not an abstraction to men like good ol' F.U., who--while I have no personal knowledge of his situation--is more likely than not much like the other small to medium sized company owners I've worked for in the past: lots of loans outstanding, bridge loans to cover them when they come due, and a very, very real payroll to meet every two weeks. Think of all the people we know who work at Obsidian. Think of their probabe salaraies, add them up and put yourself in F.U.'s shoes.

Considering that the market, being mass, is aimed at visually stimulating action button mashing for slightly evolved hairy apes, I find it remarkable that Obsidian has been able to do the good they've done at all. As far as I can tell, they are the only developer out there in the U.S. who still has its heart in computer games.

 

[Kane]

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.

"guys, we drink from the same cup that poisoned everyone else so far, but we will remain healthy. honest!"
that's a recipe for disaster if I have ever seen one.

 

[majestik12]

Obsidian Entertainment would be collaborating with Russian developer Allods Team in the development of their upcoming MMORPG, Skyforge.

Ouch, they must have been really desperate when they signed up for that.

Actually, none of what Feargus says sounds like Obsidian is in good shape business-wise.

Edit: Seriously. Mail.ru is worse than EA. And it is owned by high-profile Russian mobsters, btw.

 

[J_C]

Edit: Seriously. Mail.ru is worse than EA. And it is owned by high-profile Russian mobsters, btw.

Obsidian is working with Allods. Mail.ru is just the media site which announced it. Who cares if they are owned by the mafia?

Actually, none of what Feargus says sounds like Obsidian is in good shape business-wise.

His points have nothing to do with Obsidian's shape. He talked about the future of medium sized companies in the next console cycle.

 

[Ismaul]

Seriously why aren't we rejoicing more? PC focus and tablets? That's perfect for them, playing to their strengths, AT LAST.

If they weren't doing Skyforge after all those cancelled titles, they'd have to layoff people. Yes, most likley they're desperate right now. But I'd rather they get paid doing a shit MMO and be able to develop their own "brand" / reputation with PC games than try and make me-toos console games like they've been trying to do as their main thing. And tablets? King of Dragon Pass is a tablet game, and it's awesome. I can see them making a line of elaborate CYOAs (that would be incline for that medium at least, and they'd be good at it), or at worse spin-offs of their PC games.

I mean clearly AAA / console games have already been moving to a multiple-studios-and-outsourcing effort, and it's becoming more than they can handle, and soon, more than most devs can handle. Obsidian has tried that. What did we get? Unfinished games with potential, but never potential realized. Most people here have a love-hate "relationship" with them because of that. Maybe the devs themselves hate it a little too. And I bet if they went the way of the console, they'd have to abandon hope of making those great creative / pseudo-literary games they're good at and enjoy making. I'd rather they try for greatness and fail than have them assimilated to the AAA. I'd rather have another Troika than another Bioware.

 

[J_C]

Seriously why aren't we rejoicing more?

Welcome to RPG Codex.

 

[bhlaab]

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?

Well I'd assume they wouldn't be trying to make action/FPS rpgs for tablets, and more stuff in the vein of Project Eternity where you just need to click on stuff which... yeah, tablets can do that just fine.

 

[Lockkaliber]

Sounds like Obsidian is going to have to cut some people pretty damn soon. Also, if I read this right, we are getting a MMO, tablet games and the occasional kickstarted game from now on? What's to celebrate?

 

[majestik12]

Obsidian is working with Allods. Mail.ru is just the media site which announced it.

LOL, no. Mail.ru is a huge ass corporation that owns Allods Team and pretty much all of Russia's MMORPG industry (which is one of their least significant assets).

 

[Infinitron]

What's to celebrate?

No.

More.

Popamole.

 

[Ismaul]

Sounds like Obsidian is going to have to cut some people pretty damn soon. Also, if I read this right, we are getting a MMO, tablet games and the occasional kickstarted game from now on? What's to celebrate?

Their main thing shifted from console trash to PC RPGs.

Seriously why aren't we rejoicing more?

Welcome to RPG Codex.

I really should know better.

 

[laclongquan]

Dont you diss Russian developers. Dont you dare. From the land of the two head bears we have silent storm series and hammer sickles, the logical next step from jagged alliance 2.

 

[Micmu]

Hipster toys, MMOs and browser will be their console now.
Nothing really changed. Move along.

becoming a developer that develops "parts of games" for larger studios

I see they will still be putas of the gaming industry...

I give them 2 years max

 

[MicoSelva]

No more Onyx??? ;_;

Did they even release any games using the engine?

Dungeon Siege III.

Which was the only Obisidan game that did not suffer from a million bugs on release. I will miss Onyx.
Supposedly they have also changed their approach to QA around the same time, so maybe it will not be all bad.

King of Dragon Pass is a tablet game

It is not a tablet game. It has been ported to iPad. That's a pretty big difference.

 

[abnaxus]

Ugh, Mail.Ru reminds me of

Allods Online

Goodbye, Obsidian.