Obsidian, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas and Avowed, is among the studios negotiating with Xbox to avoid a dramatic shutdown
The future of Xbox’s first-party studios remains in limbo, and the outlook is growing increasingly bleak.
Just a few weeks after delivering a fantastic Xbox Games Showcase, Asha Sharma is carrying out a massive restructuring of the Xbox brand that is expected to severely impact many of its first-party studios, including Obsidian Entertainment. This is according to Game File, which reports that the company—along with Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, and Double Fine—is currently in negotiations to avoid shutting down.
This report is consistent with reports from earlier this year indicating that Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 did not sell as well as expected. Last February, the company’s CEO, Fergus Urquhart, stated that these results led them to reflect on how they develop games, how much they invest in them, and how long they extend their development cycles. And although he set aside the idea of working on The Outer Worlds 3, he did confirm that they intended to explore new installments set in the Avowed universe.
However, right now the reality seems to be quite different. If this information turns out to be true, Obsidian Entertainment could end up being acquired by another company or even closing its doors for good, which would be a tragedy. We would be saying goodbye to the creators of such outstanding titles as Fallout: New Vegas, Grounded, Pentiment, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Outer Worlds, Avowed, and Pillars of Eternity.
The future of Xbox is uncertain
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As a result, Xbox could be saying goodbye to one of its most acclaimed and prolific first-party studios. Naturally, the news of its closure would be a huge blow to gamers and the employees themselves, who would find themselves out on the street with an uncertain future ahead. For now, neither Sharma nor Microsoft has commented on these alleged negotiations with many of its first-party studios, but according to several journalists close to the brand, there is cause for concern regarding the release of highly anticipated games such as State of Decay 3 or even Blade.
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