[ad_1]
Microsoft is currently finalizing a contract to acquire the independent development studio Obsidian Entertainment, according to three people informed of the negotiations. We do not know yet if the ink is still on paper, and many major acquisitions have collapsed in the last few hours, but those close to the companies think it's almost over.
A person who knows the agreement has been informed Kotaku they had heard that it was "90%" finished. A second person said, "It's a question of when, not if."
Obsidian, best known for his work on critically acclaimed RPGs such as Knights of the Old Republic II (2004) and Fallout: New Vegas (2010) has been independent since its founding in 2003. The Irvine, California-based studio has long been loved by RPG fans, but it has often faced financial strains and nearly closed in 2012 before to sign a contract for an online tank game and launched a Kickstarter for the isometric backtracking that would become Pillars of Eternity.
A compelling argument for selling is that being held by a deep-pocket company will give Obsidian stability and resources that it has never known before.
"We do not comment on rumors or speculation," said a spokesman for Microsoft.
"Unfortunately, we do not comment on rumors or speculation, if it is that the Fleetwood Mac Rumors album still holds," said an Obsidian spokesman.
In late 2017, Obsidian announced the development of a new RPG that would be released by Private Division, a 2K Games label designed to fund medium-sized games. The companies have not said anything about the consoles on which the RPG will be available, and it is unclear how this sale will affect this game. One option is for Microsoft to buy back the contract; another is for Microsoft to simply inherit it, allowing Obsidian to solve its problems as part of the acquisition.
"While it is our policy not to comment on rumors and speculation, we look forward to publishing the next role-playing game for Obsidian Entertainment, and we remain confident in the team to deliver an exceptional game." , said a representative of Private Division.
It's a big step forward for the company behind Xbox, which has been shopping this year, capturing four gaming studios, including Playground (Forza Horizon) and Ninja Theory (Hellblade). His last notable gaming studio purchase was Mojang, the maker of Minecraft. Microsoft has kept Minecraft multiplatform, allowing even cross-play between Switch and Xbox One players, but console builders usually buy studios in order to create games for their consoles, not for competition. The biggest weakness of Microsoft, this generation, is its lot of proprietary developers. With Obsidian, the company now has an RPG-centric studio that can help it compete with the powerful PlayStation product line.
Someone familiar with what's happening at Microsoft said the company was looking to boost its PC-based development, making PC-centric obsidian perfectly suited.
Obsidian and Microsoft have a checkered history. Before the release of the Xbox One, Obsidian was working on a role-playing game exclusive to Xbox, published by Microsoft, called Stormlands. Tense disagreements between the two companies led Microsoft to cancel the game in 2012, and it was hard to imagine the two players working together again. However, the Xbox department is under a different direction, with Phil Spencer taking the lead in early 2014. And the move seems logical for both parties.
Source link
