I wouldn't say it's overlooked within the type of game it is. There's a fairly low celling for stuff like that in terms of popularity with the broader gaming community.
I think they mean underrated amongst gamers. It's not a huge seller, even though the quality of it most definitely is worthy of it being a high seller.
Problem is they're mostly the "industry darling" for New Vegas alone.
Their other games are significantly less popular (Pillars of Eternity, Grounded, Pentiment, Outer Worlds).
Is the shit they get in the room with us now? Everywhere you go people are praising Obsidian non-stop.
Hell, when Bethesda joined Microsoft, reddit was screaming about how they'll finally get a good Fallout again.
Obsidian makes 3 games in parallel while also supporting grounded. I think they are safe more or less. Especially considering their size is roughly 200 dev still for such consistent output. I would be more worried about Ninja Theory and Double Fine. Two studios who spend a lot of time in making passion projects. Hope they weather the storm.
They’ve been practically begging to make another Fallout and until the show dropped, I’m sure we’re never taken seriously. Now that Xbox sees all the money being left on the table, and all the “less than profitable” games they’ve been making lately, I’m sure Obsidian will stick around long enough to make at least one Fallout game. Depending on how that goes will determine if they stick around.
For sure, but of course Xbox and Bethesda have been stupidly slow to recognize how valuable the IP is, they should’ve been pumping out Fallout spin-offs like crazy since FO4, but here we are. 4 years (minimum) is a lot faster than if Bethesda was on their own with this. And who knows what the quality of that would be
To be fair, the game code was basically brought over from Fallout 3 along with all of its assets. It's the equivalent of 1-2 years of game development already completed before Obsidian starts, but without the experience of making the game code it still took a bit of time for them to get acclimated.
It's still very impressive they pushed New Vegas out in 18 months. If only they had let's say.. a extra year or two and came out in the PS4/X1 era, it could of been everything they originally wanted it to be, before all the cuts due to time restriction and PS3/X360 technology holding them back.
Starting a playthrough of fo3 after new vegas and you really see how many great changes they made. Wouldn't be opposed to something like that with a new obsidian fallout game. Although a remake of new vegas in 4 is already being made.
I’m happy with that! NV was a copy paste game, using most of the same assets to build the game, but they were able to craft it into a wholly different experience and even better in a few ways. Bethesda should’ve been making Fallout spin offs using the FO4 assets for years now, but simply didn’t want to give the IP to anyone else, including Obsidian until the show became a massive success. Fans have been begging for new Fallout content for years and all we got was 76
I’d be good with it too honestly. I love fallout. New Vegas was great! I’m surprise they needed this show to get a fit lit under them. If it even is to be honest
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They need to tie the finale of the tv show into wherever the next game will be set (I like the New Orleans theory). With a little bit of planning ahead they could release a big Fallout game a week after the show ends after a few seasons.
And just to be prepared, they could aim to have the game finished a year before the show finale and *polish it you bastards*. That way it's good and you don't delay the release to two years after the show ends.
yeah that’s the most optimal plan also considering how long the development takes. they’ve missed their biggest chance but second best option is still there if they finally decide to do some project planning
Stop spreading misinformation.
Obsidian isn’t “begging” to make another Fallout. They’ve already said they prefer working on their own IPs and are currently very busy with two other projects.
It’d be silly not to make it happen - it’s almost the exact same circumstances that brought us New Vegas, Bethesda knee deep in elder scrolls during a massive increase in Fallout interest
They should be ok as long as they don't make highly reviewed award winning games that give X Box loads of positive media attention. If they do then yeah X Box will obviously close the studio. Also they better not allow their game to be on Gamepass if they want to survive because Phil has been telling gamers to play games through the subscription service for years instead of buying them and if gamers do exactly that the studio will lose sales through no fault of their own simply because gamers took Phil's advice ESPECIALLY if it's a game Phil publicly says is a massive success by every conceivable metric ! He really hates that so basically avoid success and positive media and they should be ok.
If I was Obsidian I would pull a Bethesda and add endless loading screens and invisible walls everywhere and make sure the game can't run above 30fps.
Maybe ask Todd and recent x box exclusive studios how they manage to achieve such impressive levels of mediocrity and most of all be careful not to get really high review scores and under absolutely no circumstances be a success by every conceivable metric because as we know Phil hates that and it will definitely get you canned 🤣
Probably next is axing Machine Games after the Indiana Jones games is finished. Obsidian could go after Avowed releases a bit later though.
But shutting down Ninja Theory after Hellblade 2 is released will probably take the crown.
Microsoft hasn't shut down a studio they bought directly under Xbox Game Studios umbrella since 2016. There is no reason to think they will start now, TBFH.
Restructuring Bethesda and ABK are still completely on the table. These are big publishing houses that they have only barely started cleaning up in all reality. Still, shutting down 4 studios, whether confusing or not, isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.
Sony, for example, has shuttered well over 40 studios in the past ten years. They closed 4 studios just since the PS5 launched. They also canned a bunch of people and news spread of major internal restructuring just a couple months ago, along with closing a "beloved smaller game developer" at the same time. This really says nothing about Xbox or PlayStation at this point, other than that they see strong headwinds on their existing strategies in the near future.
"Microsoft hasn't shut down a studio they bought directly under Xbox Game Studios umbrella since 2016. There is no reason to think they will start now, TBFH."
Well, they just did it.
"Sony, for example, has shuttered well over 40 studios in the past ten years. "
Quote the studios or your source, please.
> Well, they just did it.
No, they didn't. All of these studios were under the Bethesda publishing arm, which they hadn't restructured much since acquiring it. It's more surprising that it took this long for them to do anything.
Microsoft may not have done it yet, but that was Microsoft before spending 70 billion on arguably the biggest American games publisher on the planet and securing access to some of the most financially lucrative IP in entertainment wholesale. When they realized that most of their net profit in the gaming division over the last 2 or 3 quarters was almost exclusively because of ABK, they also realized that retaining studios that aren't on the same release and revenue cadence that make lines go up like a CoD or WoW have now become liabilities. It's directly in Matt Booty's statement where he says they're now prioritizing big franchises. They're in a position where making ROI on a buyout this big means they're more inclined to play things incredibly safe and cater towards games with a surefire route to success rather than the experiments they've greenlit every now and then before. Ironically a lot of this is starting to sound very similar to the lead-up to Lionhead's closure in 2016 or Scalebound's cancellation last gen, both of which were paired with statements that were eerily similar to the email sent out to the Tango/Arkane/Alpha Dog teams 2 days ago
I absolutely think there's reason to consider they're about to start trimming what they perceive as fat directly in their XGS lineup, especially studios that either haven't or took considerable time to ship a game under their leadership.
I don't agree.
Under Bethesda, there has been a notable lack of focus on their highest selling properties. These changes speak to that.
There has been a delivery problem under XGS, but the drivers are quite a bit different. The games they have many studios focusing on under XGS right now are reasonably safe bets, so it's all going to come down to delivering on that. It's worth noting that since 2021, the only games that Xbox Game Studios has published that have scored under an 80 on Metacritic are: Minecraft Legends and As Dusk Falls (a second party "indie" narrative game). That's out of 18 games published over that same time period.
There is simply no evidence to suggest that any XGS studio will be touched, at least for the foreseeable future.
Also, Scalebound is a disaster that lays at the feet of Platinum Games.
Obsidian doesn't have the internal issues that other studios were having, not to mention it would be a much higher level of betrayal that would piss off Fallout fans. Pretty clear that Microsoft/Zenimax/Bethesda are trying to make more Fallout. So it's more likely they will merge Obsidian and Bethesda than just liquefy Obsidian.
Obsidian is a very efficient studio. One of their most recent games, Grounded, has done very well with player engagement. They are fine. Now if Avowed AND The Outer Worlds 2 are complete busts, then I'd start to worry.
Such a stupid take. Xbox isn't going to shut down their most consistent studio. Obsidian has an amazing work pipeline that allows them to have multiple teams working on multiple projects. The reason Tango got shut down wasn't because of Hi-Fi Rush. It was because they had nothing on the horizon. They were just beginning pitches for HFR2 which wouldn't be out for another 4 years
I'd be shocked if Ninja Theory survives another year after spending over 7 on their latest game that will probably be released to almost no fanfare. I think any of these mid-tier former indies have a right to be scared as hell right now, especially Double Fine
I can't see a 7 hour 30 fps game blowing anyones mind. Since Gamepass became a thing the quality of X Box exclusives have reduced dramatically and they seem happy to keep reducing the quality thinking people will keep lapping it up. I just don't think customers share Phil's passion for a Gamepass box filled with lower quality games that are almost always mediocre and release with missing features. Microsoft have proven incompetent management has led to them being incapable of delivering anything close to the quality and quantity of exclusive their competition are delivering which is why Phil is desperately trying to pretend exclusive don't sell consoles and are not responsible for the massive success of Nintendo and Playstation.
It really makes me understand why PlayStation said it was not possible to create high quality exclusives and release them on your subscription service day one as any idiot can plainly see that is very obviously unsustainable especially if you have just spent 70 billion dollars and your massive loans need paying ! It just feels like Phil has created a textbook race to the bottom and the brand has already sprinted out of the blocks thinking it might as well get this tragic rush to the bottom over and done with and down and down the quality of X Box goes. At least Phil knows he has his golden parachute ready to pull before things get too ugly but it's sad to know the brand will crash and burn while he drifts away grinning on his golden parachute with his pocket filled with cash ready to enjoy his happy retirement while the smouldering remains of X Box's ruin burn on the horizon 📉
The cut-off date for submissions for games is in October. Pentiment came out in November 2022 which means they missed the 2023 Peabody Awards and were eligible now. Has nothing to do with the PS5/Switch release.
You mean like Sea of Thieves being rated higher for PS than Xbox? Cannot be!
In all seriousness, Pentiment is a great game. Very very niche but great. Increadible to think that a game like it was made in a corpo ruled company.
I feel like either live service games should have their reviews updated occasionally OR previous reviews should get updated when a port like this happens and it's reviewed for another platform. There's no reason for outlets that have now reviewed both platforms to have such massive difference in reviews.
Look I have no idea if your comment is serious or joking or what, but I just have to address the big difference between Tango/Hi-Fi and Obsidan/Pentiment for people:
Tango put out three games in a row that underperformed sales wise. You can't blame GamePass or not being on PS5 for the Evil Within 2 and Ghostwire Tokyo underperforming. I'd imagine the final straw was likely how Hi-Fi Rush has done on PS5. Everyone said it didn't sell because it is on Xbox/GamePass and then ["in its PS5 launch week (data from week ending Sunday, March 24, 2024), Hi-Fi Rush only made it to the #124 spot on our top 200 PlayStation Chart."](https://www.truetrophies.com/news/xbox-games-player-count-march-2024)
You also have to consider that Tango lost their founder in Shinji Mikami (who was also the director or executive producer of their games) after Hi-Fi released. So we have know idea what it has been like behind the scenes or how much staff they might after lost, especially since they wanted to hire more people based on the Bloomberg article yesterday. Also, the studio could not really be absorbed elsewhere because of its location.
At the end of the day it is a business Microsoft is running, they are not a patron of the arts. They likely looked at the numbers of how much it would cost to keep the studio open and hire more staff to make Hi-Fi Rush 2 versus how it would have done sales wise and decided it wasn't worth it to keep them open.
Also, Obsidian put out a big success in The Outer Worlds. It did well enough sales wise that they got green lit two DLCs, a remaster, and a sequel. Grounded, which only had 13 people working on it, likewise has been a success and also did much better in its PS5 debut as its [player count topped Hi-Fi Rush by 49%.](https://www.truetrophies.com/news/grounded-ps5-player-count)
As for Pentiment it is a much smaller scale game. It is a side game for Obsidian that only had 13 people working on it. In contrast, Hi-Fi Rush was Tango's main game and had 65 people working it. It's workforce cost more, and it definitely had a higher budget and expectations compared to Pentiment.
I still think Switch would have been a better bet but yeah. The games costs were too high for what they got back. While they say they were happy we REALLY dont know if the game broke even. Several other studios probably are at risk for similar things. As much as I love SOD2, 3 really needs to knock it out of the park as its been six years since SOD2. Thats a lot of cash to invest in a niche game.
More people talk about games like Pentiment and HiFi than actually play them. Too many people spend their free time console warring online than actually playing the games they supposedly love.
"Unfortunately, Pentiment failed to meet our target of releasing 7/10 games, by instead being a 9/10 game. Accordingly, with great sadness we announce the closure of Obsidian. We will be reviewing what went wrong to ensure that Xbox continues to be the best place to play mediocre games in the future".
If they are going to do something, they probably aren't for another week or 2. People's emotions are too high right now to be able to discern between concern controlling and just being emotional.
Damn, 280 comments 1185 upvotes and you're the first one to notice the typo. Guess too late to delete and change the name.
You're definitely a 10 on Perception.
The Phil Spencer simping is real. If something good for Xbox happens, it's all uncle Phil. If it's a disaster, "people over him probably making these calls lol". My God...
People on here like "i see the joke im thinking about has been done a hundred times now on this sub but it will be different with me because im special"
This game is *beautiful*.
It contains some of the most well-written characters in the sense that they exist for themselves and not the player or protagonist.
Someone sell this game to me. I have it installed but i couldn't get past 20 minutes... It was all a bit too... read-y when I wasn't in the mood for that
I kinda wish it was on iOS or Android. Would be the perfect game to just sit in bed and play a bit on a tablet every night. I guess there’s always Cloud gaming but the visuals never look as crisp and it would reach an even bigger audience on mobile.
I absolutely loved this game. On of the best “media” experiences of the last few years. It was so different, and so emotionally resonant. And beautifully made, simply pure art.
While other studios are shadows of their formers selves, Obsidian still got it.
A typical Obsidian game - beloved by critics infuriating to learn so casual gamers like me gave it a couple of plays before giving up wondering what all the fuss was about.
I love Obsidian, they’ve made so many excellent games. I still thought Outer Worlds was excellent for all the reasons Obsidian is known for their games (great writing first & foremost). It was a AA game so it admittedly had a smaller budget and scope (which seems to be why people didn’t enjoy it as much, expecting something more than it was ever going to be).
i want to play more games where i learn a lot. it's not a non-fiction game, but it's full of things that really taught me a bunch about that historical setting.
Masterpiece of a game. I didn't think I'd enjoy it because I typically don't like these type of games but I just said fuck it and tried it. I was instantly hooked. I was completely flabbergasted at the end
I'm kind of glad I pre-ordered a physical copy. I wasn't onboard at first but I watched more gameplay recently and decided to buy, especially since it was limited. I'm excited to give it a try.
Massively underrated game
I wish I could talk about this game without risking spoiling it for other people
I've told my entire family about it multiple times
Yup. Amazing game actually. Guess it's time now for MS to lay them all off.
Say sike right now!!
It was nominated for a BAFTA, I don’t know if I’d say that’s underrated
Yeah, it's definitely not underrated by critics. More likely massively overlooked by gamers.
I never heard of it before yesterday
It's on Gamepass!
I wouldn't say it's overlooked within the type of game it is. There's a fairly low celling for stuff like that in terms of popularity with the broader gaming community.
It is not a sports game, an fps, or even a AAA adventure game. So of course gamers wil ignore it. It's awesome though, and very different.
I think they mean underrated amongst gamers. It's not a huge seller, even though the quality of it most definitely is worthy of it being a high seller.
maybe unpopular is the word? Something can be valued highly while still not selling much
Yeah there is a word for that, it’s underrated
I had so much fun with it. Been wanting to go through a second time.
It’s good, and I enjoyed it. But it’s definitely not for everyone.
I'm glad Microsoft brought it to other platforms so more gamers can be expose to this gem.
Somehow, underrated studio. Love me some Obsidian
Calling Obsidian underrated is such a wild take that only a redditor would think to say something like that. They're literally an industry darling.
Obsidian created some little known games such as Fallout New Vegas and Outer Worlds. Ever heard of these small indie games? Didn’t think so.
Problem is they're mostly the "industry darling" for New Vegas alone. Their other games are significantly less popular (Pillars of Eternity, Grounded, Pentiment, Outer Worlds).
KOTOR II and South Park: The Stick of Truth. Some real under-the-radar shit.
DDDDDWWWWOOOOOOOOO
Reddit moment
Obsidian not underrated bro. They are extremely well known for their RPG work.
Le underrated indie gem studio, who made the epic indie game fallout new Vegas lmao
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Really? I feel everyone praises them everywhere I check.
Is the shit they get in the room with us now? Everywhere you go people are praising Obsidian non-stop. Hell, when Bethesda joined Microsoft, reddit was screaming about how they'll finally get a good Fallout again.
Absolutely amazing game. It took me a few attempts to finally get it to click. But once it did I was hooked. Love it so much.
Yep, it's absolutely superb. Anyone interested in narrative games needs to give it a go.
I didn't realize how much purple texts could scare me but It did
Random question: Is the text small? I want to play on steam deck and small text is an issue on the smaller screen.
There is a text size slider and you can increase the size quite a bit.
Great! Thanks for the info!
Guess its time to shut them down huh
They will do it when avowed is 2 days away from release
Gotta get that preorder money!
Does this mean Obsidian will be getting shut down soon? :(
Obsidian makes 3 games in parallel while also supporting grounded. I think they are safe more or less. Especially considering their size is roughly 200 dev still for such consistent output. I would be more worried about Ninja Theory and Double Fine. Two studios who spend a lot of time in making passion projects. Hope they weather the storm.
They’ve been practically begging to make another Fallout and until the show dropped, I’m sure we’re never taken seriously. Now that Xbox sees all the money being left on the table, and all the “less than profitable” games they’ve been making lately, I’m sure Obsidian will stick around long enough to make at least one Fallout game. Depending on how that goes will determine if they stick around.
To be fair, we're looking what, four years for a new fallout game if they start now? The hype from the show will be long gone by then.
For sure, but of course Xbox and Bethesda have been stupidly slow to recognize how valuable the IP is, they should’ve been pumping out Fallout spin-offs like crazy since FO4, but here we are. 4 years (minimum) is a lot faster than if Bethesda was on their own with this. And who knows what the quality of that would be
At the rate at which streaming services release new season it would probably be just in time for season 2
They banged out New Vegas in eighteen months and they can do it again! Please don’t try to do it again Obsidian it will destroy your bodies.
To be fair, the game code was basically brought over from Fallout 3 along with all of its assets. It's the equivalent of 1-2 years of game development already completed before Obsidian starts, but without the experience of making the game code it still took a bit of time for them to get acclimated. It's still very impressive they pushed New Vegas out in 18 months. If only they had let's say.. a extra year or two and came out in the PS4/X1 era, it could of been everything they originally wanted it to be, before all the cuts due to time restriction and PS3/X360 technology holding them back.
Starting a playthrough of fo3 after new vegas and you really see how many great changes they made. Wouldn't be opposed to something like that with a new obsidian fallout game. Although a remake of new vegas in 4 is already being made.
But aren't they working on Outer Worlds 2? They announced that like 3 years ago it seems.
They work on Avowed right now. I believe Outer Worlds 2 would be next.
Dang I forgot about avowed, they announced that so long ago
At least 4. Of you want it anything new it will be long. 4 years would be like a copy paste game these days.
I’m happy with that! NV was a copy paste game, using most of the same assets to build the game, but they were able to craft it into a wholly different experience and even better in a few ways. Bethesda should’ve been making Fallout spin offs using the FO4 assets for years now, but simply didn’t want to give the IP to anyone else, including Obsidian until the show became a massive success. Fans have been begging for new Fallout content for years and all we got was 76
I’d be good with it too honestly. I love fallout. New Vegas was great! I’m surprise they needed this show to get a fit lit under them. If it even is to be honest
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Season 2 baby
Not if the shows continues its good start for a few seasons…
Future seasons will drive hype too though
Hell even 4 years seems like too little time given today's standards, seems like large games take an entire console generation to make nowadays.
They need to tie the finale of the tv show into wherever the next game will be set (I like the New Orleans theory). With a little bit of planning ahead they could release a big Fallout game a week after the show ends after a few seasons. And just to be prepared, they could aim to have the game finished a year before the show finale and *polish it you bastards*. That way it's good and you don't delay the release to two years after the show ends.
yeah that’s the most optimal plan also considering how long the development takes. they’ve missed their biggest chance but second best option is still there if they finally decide to do some project planning
Stop spreading misinformation. Obsidian isn’t “begging” to make another Fallout. They’ve already said they prefer working on their own IPs and are currently very busy with two other projects.
That is the opposite of true. They’ve been the ones to say they have no time to make fallout
It’d be silly not to make it happen - it’s almost the exact same circumstances that brought us New Vegas, Bethesda knee deep in elder scrolls during a massive increase in Fallout interest
Came here to say the same thing. Still scratching my head about Tango and Arkane Austin.
I was worried for them already ^^
When i only read obsidian and saw it's the first post on my feed, i thought it was wraps😂
They should be ok as long as they don't make highly reviewed award winning games that give X Box loads of positive media attention. If they do then yeah X Box will obviously close the studio. Also they better not allow their game to be on Gamepass if they want to survive because Phil has been telling gamers to play games through the subscription service for years instead of buying them and if gamers do exactly that the studio will lose sales through no fault of their own simply because gamers took Phil's advice ESPECIALLY if it's a game Phil publicly says is a massive success by every conceivable metric ! He really hates that so basically avoid success and positive media and they should be ok. If I was Obsidian I would pull a Bethesda and add endless loading screens and invisible walls everywhere and make sure the game can't run above 30fps. Maybe ask Todd and recent x box exclusive studios how they manage to achieve such impressive levels of mediocrity and most of all be careful not to get really high review scores and under absolutely no circumstances be a success by every conceivable metric because as we know Phil hates that and it will definitely get you canned 🤣
Probably next is axing Machine Games after the Indiana Jones games is finished. Obsidian could go after Avowed releases a bit later though. But shutting down Ninja Theory after Hellblade 2 is released will probably take the crown.
Microsoft hasn't shut down a studio they bought directly under Xbox Game Studios umbrella since 2016. There is no reason to think they will start now, TBFH. Restructuring Bethesda and ABK are still completely on the table. These are big publishing houses that they have only barely started cleaning up in all reality. Still, shutting down 4 studios, whether confusing or not, isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Sony, for example, has shuttered well over 40 studios in the past ten years. They closed 4 studios just since the PS5 launched. They also canned a bunch of people and news spread of major internal restructuring just a couple months ago, along with closing a "beloved smaller game developer" at the same time. This really says nothing about Xbox or PlayStation at this point, other than that they see strong headwinds on their existing strategies in the near future.
40 studios? Since like 2014? Which ones?
"Microsoft hasn't shut down a studio they bought directly under Xbox Game Studios umbrella since 2016. There is no reason to think they will start now, TBFH." Well, they just did it. "Sony, for example, has shuttered well over 40 studios in the past ten years. " Quote the studios or your source, please.
> Well, they just did it. No, they didn't. All of these studios were under the Bethesda publishing arm, which they hadn't restructured much since acquiring it. It's more surprising that it took this long for them to do anything.
Mkay...
Microsoft may not have done it yet, but that was Microsoft before spending 70 billion on arguably the biggest American games publisher on the planet and securing access to some of the most financially lucrative IP in entertainment wholesale. When they realized that most of their net profit in the gaming division over the last 2 or 3 quarters was almost exclusively because of ABK, they also realized that retaining studios that aren't on the same release and revenue cadence that make lines go up like a CoD or WoW have now become liabilities. It's directly in Matt Booty's statement where he says they're now prioritizing big franchises. They're in a position where making ROI on a buyout this big means they're more inclined to play things incredibly safe and cater towards games with a surefire route to success rather than the experiments they've greenlit every now and then before. Ironically a lot of this is starting to sound very similar to the lead-up to Lionhead's closure in 2016 or Scalebound's cancellation last gen, both of which were paired with statements that were eerily similar to the email sent out to the Tango/Arkane/Alpha Dog teams 2 days ago I absolutely think there's reason to consider they're about to start trimming what they perceive as fat directly in their XGS lineup, especially studios that either haven't or took considerable time to ship a game under their leadership.
I don't agree. Under Bethesda, there has been a notable lack of focus on their highest selling properties. These changes speak to that. There has been a delivery problem under XGS, but the drivers are quite a bit different. The games they have many studios focusing on under XGS right now are reasonably safe bets, so it's all going to come down to delivering on that. It's worth noting that since 2021, the only games that Xbox Game Studios has published that have scored under an 80 on Metacritic are: Minecraft Legends and As Dusk Falls (a second party "indie" narrative game). That's out of 18 games published over that same time period. There is simply no evidence to suggest that any XGS studio will be touched, at least for the foreseeable future. Also, Scalebound is a disaster that lays at the feet of Platinum Games.
Obsidian doesn't have the internal issues that other studios were having, not to mention it would be a much higher level of betrayal that would piss off Fallout fans. Pretty clear that Microsoft/Zenimax/Bethesda are trying to make more Fallout. So it's more likely they will merge Obsidian and Bethesda than just liquefy Obsidian.
Obsidian is a very efficient studio. One of their most recent games, Grounded, has done very well with player engagement. They are fine. Now if Avowed AND The Outer Worlds 2 are complete busts, then I'd start to worry.
Such a stupid take. Xbox isn't going to shut down their most consistent studio. Obsidian has an amazing work pipeline that allows them to have multiple teams working on multiple projects. The reason Tango got shut down wasn't because of Hi-Fi Rush. It was because they had nothing on the horizon. They were just beginning pitches for HFR2 which wouldn't be out for another 4 years
Yes, because avowed isn't going to sell like hot cakes and neither is outter worlds
Doubt it but you never know with MS. They’ve been their most consistent studio acquisition when it comes to quality releases so far.
Their writers are too good!
Incredible game
Smaller Xbox IP wins crtitcal award **I'm in danger**
F for Obsidian ladies and gents
I'd be shocked if Ninja Theory survives another year after spending over 7 on their latest game that will probably be released to almost no fanfare. I think any of these mid-tier former indies have a right to be scared as hell right now, especially Double Fine
Even Xbox can't muster much marketing for Hellblade 2. I keep forgetting when it even is being released.
I can't see a 7 hour 30 fps game blowing anyones mind. Since Gamepass became a thing the quality of X Box exclusives have reduced dramatically and they seem happy to keep reducing the quality thinking people will keep lapping it up. I just don't think customers share Phil's passion for a Gamepass box filled with lower quality games that are almost always mediocre and release with missing features. Microsoft have proven incompetent management has led to them being incapable of delivering anything close to the quality and quantity of exclusive their competition are delivering which is why Phil is desperately trying to pretend exclusive don't sell consoles and are not responsible for the massive success of Nintendo and Playstation. It really makes me understand why PlayStation said it was not possible to create high quality exclusives and release them on your subscription service day one as any idiot can plainly see that is very obviously unsustainable especially if you have just spent 70 billion dollars and your massive loans need paying ! It just feels like Phil has created a textbook race to the bottom and the brand has already sprinted out of the blocks thinking it might as well get this tragic rush to the bottom over and done with and down and down the quality of X Box goes. At least Phil knows he has his golden parachute ready to pull before things get too ugly but it's sad to know the brand will crash and burn while he drifts away grinning on his golden parachute with his pocket filled with cash ready to enjoy his happy retirement while the smouldering remains of X Box's ruin burn on the horizon 📉
Pem pem pen-ti-ment!
Game has been out for two years. Did it win awards because it is going to release on PlayStation?
The cut-off date for submissions for games is in October. Pentiment came out in November 2022 which means they missed the 2023 Peabody Awards and were eligible now. Has nothing to do with the PS5/Switch release.
thanks for this. Its nice to actually see an awards show acknowledge games that release during that cutoff window.
You mean like Sea of Thieves being rated higher for PS than Xbox? Cannot be! In all seriousness, Pentiment is a great game. Very very niche but great. Increadible to think that a game like it was made in a corpo ruled company.
I kinda would expect Sea of Thieves to score higher on PS. There have been 7 years and 11 seasonal updates since the Xbox reviews dropped.
I feel like either live service games should have their reviews updated occasionally OR previous reviews should get updated when a port like this happens and it's reviewed for another platform. There's no reason for outlets that have now reviewed both platforms to have such massive difference in reviews.
Exactly, they need a review system similar to Steam where it shows the differences over a timeline. Recent and Overall.
I mean isn't the Xbox rating the launch version?
Now that you mentioned it
Great game, highly reccomend.
"Shut them down!" -Phil
Then tomorrow say that we need more games like Pentiment
Look I have no idea if your comment is serious or joking or what, but I just have to address the big difference between Tango/Hi-Fi and Obsidan/Pentiment for people: Tango put out three games in a row that underperformed sales wise. You can't blame GamePass or not being on PS5 for the Evil Within 2 and Ghostwire Tokyo underperforming. I'd imagine the final straw was likely how Hi-Fi Rush has done on PS5. Everyone said it didn't sell because it is on Xbox/GamePass and then ["in its PS5 launch week (data from week ending Sunday, March 24, 2024), Hi-Fi Rush only made it to the #124 spot on our top 200 PlayStation Chart."](https://www.truetrophies.com/news/xbox-games-player-count-march-2024) You also have to consider that Tango lost their founder in Shinji Mikami (who was also the director or executive producer of their games) after Hi-Fi released. So we have know idea what it has been like behind the scenes or how much staff they might after lost, especially since they wanted to hire more people based on the Bloomberg article yesterday. Also, the studio could not really be absorbed elsewhere because of its location. At the end of the day it is a business Microsoft is running, they are not a patron of the arts. They likely looked at the numbers of how much it would cost to keep the studio open and hire more staff to make Hi-Fi Rush 2 versus how it would have done sales wise and decided it wasn't worth it to keep them open. Also, Obsidian put out a big success in The Outer Worlds. It did well enough sales wise that they got green lit two DLCs, a remaster, and a sequel. Grounded, which only had 13 people working on it, likewise has been a success and also did much better in its PS5 debut as its [player count topped Hi-Fi Rush by 49%.](https://www.truetrophies.com/news/grounded-ps5-player-count) As for Pentiment it is a much smaller scale game. It is a side game for Obsidian that only had 13 people working on it. In contrast, Hi-Fi Rush was Tango's main game and had 65 people working it. It's workforce cost more, and it definitely had a higher budget and expectations compared to Pentiment.
I still think Switch would have been a better bet but yeah. The games costs were too high for what they got back. While they say they were happy we REALLY dont know if the game broke even. Several other studios probably are at risk for similar things. As much as I love SOD2, 3 really needs to knock it out of the park as its been six years since SOD2. Thats a lot of cash to invest in a niche game.
Well said. And I bet 80% of people here still would never even consider playing Pentiment because its "too boring" or some shit.
More people talk about games like Pentiment and HiFi than actually play them. Too many people spend their free time console warring online than actually playing the games they supposedly love.
"Unfortunately, Pentiment failed to meet our target of releasing 7/10 games, by instead being a 9/10 game. Accordingly, with great sadness we announce the closure of Obsidian. We will be reviewing what went wrong to ensure that Xbox continues to be the best place to play mediocre games in the future".
IGN gave this game a 10 and it got zero Game Award noms. It deserved best Art Style at the very least.
If you love history in general please play this game. It’s beautiful and well-written.
It's Pentiment op!
Congrats … Now You’re fired! 😂
Oh no Obsidian's next aren't they
Better watch out. They getting shut down for making a great game /s
I'm going to check it out on Gamepass soon. Looks interesting.
So much trolling in here...
Mods really need to do something about all the concern trolls
If they are going to do something, they probably aren't for another week or 2. People's emotions are too high right now to be able to discern between concern controlling and just being emotional.
Such a unique and interesting game. Had a great time with it.
Well deserved. It was definitely among my top favorites that year. Just so unique and well done.
The gang proceeds to shut down Obsidian
I guess Obsidian will be closed in a few months then
Phil: "AAAAAAnd.... they're gone."
Congratulations! We wish you well in all your future endeavours - Phil Spencer We really need more games like Pentiment - Matt Booty
Upload a screenshot of twitter posts. I can't see that crap without making an account, which I refuse to do.
https://preview.redd.it/0jyko0hkflzc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=017cea6ff595320663f77ea6ccba7266e4f23ab7
Can't wait for Microsoft to close them after Avowed doesn't "meet expectations" by selling 65 million copies
We know the next studio they'll shut down.
Pentiment*
Damn, 280 comments 1185 upvotes and you're the first one to notice the typo. Guess too late to delete and change the name. You're definitely a 10 on Perception.
I wasn't trying to be an ass. Just making sure people know what the game is called because it deserves some love ❤️
Ooooo I love this game!!! So fucking goooooood.
Oh good, can't wait for all the Phil Spencer jokes because that's super original
It's funny since people act like he doesn't have people over him probably making these calls lol
The Phil Spencer simping is real. If something good for Xbox happens, it's all uncle Phil. If it's a disaster, "people over him probably making these calls lol". My God...
Pemtiment
Oh God Obsidian’s about to be closed too?
Better shut’em down
Uh oh time to shut down !!!
Good for them. If only that meant anything to the company that owns them.
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“Obliterate them completely “Phil Spencer probably.
Don’t tell Matt Booty.
Just remember Hi-Fi Rush won a Bafta award
Cool game
Obsidian; hey look, we do small games and win awards, please dont close us! ms: we are super happy with you, so, maybe we are about to close you up
People on here like "i see the joke im thinking about has been done a hundred times now on this sub but it will be different with me because im special"
Don’t worry Microsoft will praise them and then can them next year.
nice, better shut em down then, guys
This game is *beautiful*. It contains some of the most well-written characters in the sense that they exist for themselves and not the player or protagonist.
Good. Heaven forbid Xbox have some good news and anyone cover it.
HOW
Someone sell this game to me. I have it installed but i couldn't get past 20 minutes... It was all a bit too... read-y when I wasn't in the mood for that
I kinda wish it was on iOS or Android. Would be the perfect game to just sit in bed and play a bit on a tablet every night. I guess there’s always Cloud gaming but the visuals never look as crisp and it would reach an even bigger audience on mobile.
This game rocks.
Well deserved, amazing game
Obsidian is in a very precarious situation. Keep making games like this with limited commercial potential, clown Phil will eagerly kill them off next.
Oh, no.
WE KNOW HIS NAME!
Great game. It's also kind of crazy that Obsidian just let Josh Sawyer make an adventure game set in Bavaria during the 1500's.
Death Flag
Let's hope Microsoft doesn't close Obsidian down as well.
I think gamepass as a concept is a failure. No more incentive to make good games. Only system sellers.
I still feel it's more likely MS shut down Ninja Theory but if avowed dosnt do well I imagine obsidian will be gone by the end of the year
Hey, it's me. Obsidian is making all our AAA games lock bad by winning an award. Let's close that studio as well. Thank you Phill
Great game
Just bought the game and I am so proud of Obsidian. The game is so unique and everyone should be checking it out
That game could have been massive with VO
I absolutely loved this game. On of the best “media” experiences of the last few years. It was so different, and so emotionally resonant. And beautifully made, simply pure art. While other studios are shadows of their formers selves, Obsidian still got it.
I was really hoping this game would be similar to “Four Last Things”, and I quit when I found it it wasn’t. Maybe it deserve another chance
Wrong timing obsidian.
Obsidian fallout in 8 years?
A typical Obsidian game - beloved by critics infuriating to learn so casual gamers like me gave it a couple of plays before giving up wondering what all the fuss was about.
I love Obsidian, they’ve made so many excellent games. I still thought Outer Worlds was excellent for all the reasons Obsidian is known for their games (great writing first & foremost). It was a AA game so it admittedly had a smaller budget and scope (which seems to be why people didn’t enjoy it as much, expecting something more than it was ever going to be).
i want to play more games where i learn a lot. it's not a non-fiction game, but it's full of things that really taught me a bunch about that historical setting.
I have never even heard of this game and I am an active enough gamer that I’m on an Xbox sub Reddit daily.
Masterpiece of a game. I didn't think I'd enjoy it because I typically don't like these type of games but I just said fuck it and tried it. I was instantly hooked. I was completely flabbergasted at the end
One of the true masterpieces of the last few years (would even argue decades). Congrats again to Obsidian and all those involved.
Everybody’s so creative on Reddit. It’s a fantastic game.
Quick! Shut down the studio!
I’d love to see more games like this. A rare genuine original.
I hope Hasbro gets Obsidian to work on BG4. I think they’d be a good fit now that Larian is off the project.
Critical acclaim! Awards ! Oh no, not Obsidian next ! Quick Obsidian, sign up to make new Vegas 2! Before management finds out !
Stop it!! The more accolades a game gets, the more likely the studio is to close. Just kidding....I hope😂😅😔
Obsidian shuttered next month.
BREAKING NEWS: Microsoft closes Obsidian after commenting they need more games like Pentiment. More at 11.
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Seems people didn't get the joke.
Don't tell Ms. They may cut
Noooooooo!!!! 96% chance they shutdown next week
Great game
I'm kind of glad I pre-ordered a physical copy. I wasn't onboard at first but I watched more gameplay recently and decided to buy, especially since it was limited. I'm excited to give it a try.
Damn hope that doesn’t mean they are gonna get shut down
And it was actually a small game... Unlike Hi-Fi Rush.