News Microsoft Acquire Obsidian Entertainment & inXile

Eriugam

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Recently announced via the X018 event; Microsoft have acquired Obsidian and inXile and will both become part of the Microsoft Studios

What's everyone else's thoughts on the acquisitions?
 
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lashman

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my thoughts are: they better keep publishing their new games on steam (even if we have to wait for them a while longer) ... or else
 
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Eriugam

Eriugam

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my thoughts are: they better keep publishing their new games on steam (even if we have to wait for them a while longer) ... or else
I'm thinking that they'll be released exclusively on the Xbox Pass service. Looks like Microsoft are going to be pushing the service hard for next generation
 
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lashman

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I'm thinking that they'll be released exclusively on the Xbox Pass service. Looks like Microsoft are going to be pushing the service hard for next generation
yeah, that's what i fear :( especially since i don't give a crap about gamepasses and other origin accesses ... i just don't ... i like to buy my games, not rent them
 
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Eriugam

Eriugam

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yeah, that's what i fear :( especially since i don't give a crap about gamepasses and other origin accesses ... i just don't ... i like to buy my games, not rent them
All digital services appear to be very enticing until you realise that access can be revoked at any time, leaving you in a difficult predicament, especially if we are heading into a digital future
 
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lashman

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All digital services appear to be very enticing until you realise that access can be revoked at any time, leaving you in a difficult predicament, especially if we are heading into a digital future
yeah, and i HATE it so much ....

but at least volvo isn't publicly owned, so there's a slightly larger chance they won't fuck everyone over because their shareholders tell them to ... so there's that
 
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Eriugam

Eriugam

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yeah, and i HATE it so much ....

but at least volvo isn't publicly owned, so there's a slightly larger chance they won't fuck everyone over because their shareholders tell them to ... so there's that
Volvo.. Ha.

Yeah Valve don't really have an agenda, they do as they see fit.. which is very little.. I'd never put my trust in any digital platform that a publisher and or console maker release due to having my access revoked at any time
 
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Panda Pedinte

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I'm not surprised by these acquisitions. I remember reading an interview with Feargus from Obsidian years(?) ago and he said they could be okay with selling them if the price was right.
 
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Nahkapukki

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I think it's a good fit. MS has been lacking in the RPG department and these studios have lacked funding. I just hope MS gives them enough leash to make their own thing. Also I hope MS yanks that leash if they don't seem to get things done...
 
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Depressing news. :cry:

I particularly like Obsidian's games, and while it's great they found a way to maintain the studios after a string of games with disappointing sales, having a company who has a platform to sell acquire them most probably means in order to keep enjoying their games, I would have to either buy another Microsoft console (and after the 360, I swore them off; it was a terrible experience: constant hardware failure, Microsoft games with DLCs that were published everywhere but where I live, and so on), or change my OS and start using their store, which after GFWL, where I was locked out of playing and enjoying content I paid for, it's something I also swore off.

I wish them all the best, but again, it's a bit sad that I'll probably lose access to the games of one of the few companies whose games I really care about.
 
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lashman

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Depressing news. :cry:

I particularly like Obsidian's games, and while it's great they found a way to maintain the studios after a string of games with disappointing sales, having a company who has a platform to sell acquire them most probably means in order to keep enjoying their games, I would have to either buy another Microsoft console (and after the 360, I swore them off; it was a terrible experience: constant hardware failure, Microsoft games with DLCs that were published everywhere but where I live, and so on), or change my OS and start using their store, which after GFWL, where I was locked out of playing and enjoying content I paid for, it's something I also swore off.

I wish them all the best, but again, it's a bit sad that I'll probably lose access to the games of one of the few companies whose games I really care about.
yeah ... i mean - there's a very small chance those games might eventually come to steam ... but i wouldn't count on it since no first-party MS games have so far (even Killer Instinct is a third-party exclusive)
 
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Le Pertti

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While I'm kind of glad to see them getting bought, because they seemed to have some problems, like looking how well POE2 sold.:/ So there is a chance we will get more good CRPGs, BUT now there is a chance they won't be on Steam and more pressing for me personally, not on Mac.T_T
 
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lashman

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While I'm kind of glad to see them getting bought, because they seemed to have some problems, like looking how well POE2 sold.:/ So there is a chance we will get more good CRPGs, BUT now there is a chance they won't be on Steam and more pressing for me personally, not on Mac.T_T
yeah, at this point - you can pretty much forget about mac ... steam - maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe .... mac - no chance :(
 
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Nahkapukki

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Depressing news. :cry:

I particularly like Obsidian's games, and while it's great they found a way to maintain the studios after a string of games with disappointing sales, having a company who has a platform to sell acquire them most probably means in order to keep enjoying their games, I would have to either buy another Microsoft console (and after the 360, I swore them off; it was a terrible experience: constant hardware failure, Microsoft games with DLCs that were published everywhere but where I live, and so on), or change my OS and start using their store, which after GFWL, where I was locked out of playing and enjoying content I paid for, it's something I also swore off.

I wish them all the best, but again, it's a bit sad that I'll probably lose access to the games of one of the few companies whose games I really care about.
Yeah MS being US and UK centric sucks. They are a bit more open now so it's not as bad as it was with OG or 360 box.
 
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Yeah MS being US and UK centric sucks. They are a bit more open now so it's not as bad as it was with OG or 360 box.
It was unbelievable. I live in Portugal. We never even got those Indie marketplace titles. Not even that, many DLCs, and Xbox Live games never launched here, without any explanation.
For example, I loved the first Crackdown. One of the reasons I bought the console (Dead Rising was another). A DLC pack was announced. I added points to my wallet on the day before it launched, and on launch day... nothing.
The DLC was released everywhere except Japan, Germany (where the game was apparently banned or censored) and Portugal. Japan got the DLC a few months later. Portugal never got it. I kept asking Microsoft, and the developers, about what was happening, and I never got a decent response. Microsoft said it was the responsibility of the each publisher to release the content or not in a certain region. For... a title they published.
And it wasn't a single case. This kept happening.

And as for their hardware, my brother had to send his console for repairs 3 times, and it never came back decently fixed. They would send refurbished consoles, each time with a different problem. The last time his console had a graphics card problem, he sent it in, paid for repairs, and got a console whose disc drive was extremely noise, and stopped working not long after that.

My own console had that red rings of death problem just after warranty was out, and they wanted a ridiculous amount to fix it. This, for a well known production and design issue. I still have it broken down, despite having hundreds of purchases on the Xbox Live marketplace.

I take care of my gaming machines, so much that I have working consoles that are 30+ years old.
The only console that ever broke down on me was... a 360.

I give every company a fair chance, but both on the hardware side, and on the PC software side, I had enough bad experiences with Microsoft to avoid them as much as I can.
 

Nahkapukki

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To each their own. I'd rather go with Xbox since the controller is just so comfy and outside of single purchase issue from the dumpster that is Win10 store I haven't had any issues with the software.

And yeah we had the same issue as you Portuguese had. No indie store and lacked titles. Weird thing was that Sweden had the Indie store but we didn't. :p
 

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To each their own. I'd rather go with Xbox since the controller is just so comfy and outside of single purchase issue from the dumpster that is Win10 store I haven't had any issues with the software.

And yeah we had the same issue as you Portuguese had. No indie store and lacked titles. Weird thing was that Sweden had the Indie store but we didn't. :p
Well, I do give you that the controller is comfy.
I still use my Xbox 360 controllers on PC. ;)
 
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prudis

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well not sure what to think of this
.. .on one hand nice to see these studios with possibly bigger budget as their last games are great but underfunded
... on other hand is the and scary thought of WinStore exlusivity and MS/Xbox having a say in creation of PC-oriented cRPGs 😕

InXile so far said they will continue what they promised with their ongoing projects so at least for Wasteland 3 and Wasteland 1 remaster there is some hope , maybe for few patches for BT4 , no clue about final Pillars 2 DLC

In the videos they both said MS will let them do whatever they wanted and continue to do but i fear that pretty soon after their already ongoing projects and maybe 1 MS funded titles . they will just become either blockbuster fuel (kinda like Raven or Beenox are in Acti) or do tiny GaaS/episodic psuedo-cRPGs for GamePass :-/
 
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Alexandros

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I liked their games but didn't love them, so I guess we'll see if they can improve their output under Microsoft. It goes without saying that I won't buy them if they'll only release on the Microsoft Store, at best I'll pay for month of Gamepass, play them to completion and be done with it. I call it my "not on Steam" policy.
 
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Mivey

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Well, at least it will lead to a MS first party developer (inXile) publishing a game on Steam . Wonder if they'll also publish Wasteland 3 for the WIndows Store. No one will buy it, sure, but it might make for good practice.
 
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lashman

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Well, at least it will lead to a MS first party developer (inXile) publishing a game on Steam . Wonder if they'll also publish Wasteland 3 for the WIndows Store. No one will buy it, sure, but it might make for good practice.
well that's not quite like that .... i mean - sure, Wasteland 3 will be on steam because they have to do it .... but any new games from them - prooooobably not :(
 
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Eriugam

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well that's not quite like that .... i mean - sure, Wasteland 3 will be on steam because they have to do it .... but any new games from them - prooooobably not :(
No chance of any future games being released on Steam, Microsoft will push the Windows Store and Xbox game pass hard..
 
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Mivey

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well that's not quite like that .... i mean - sure, Wasteland 3 will be on steam because they have to do it .... but any new games from them - prooooobably not :(
As of now, I agree. But the Windows Store really doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Either for games, or for "proper" software programs. Hell, Microsoft basically gave up on porting Office to UWP. You are also not seeing a lot of third party devs jumping on the UWP train. I feel Microsoft will stop pursing this eventually when they can't see it working, and therefore giving them money.
I feel they might weaken their "Windows Store only" policy to something along the lines of first publishing on Windows Store, and later on Steam, if only out of basic economic reasoning.

Of course, they might also just can all of their PC gaming investments and completely pull out, who knows?
 
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lashman

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As of now, I agree. But the Windows Store really doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Either for games, or for "proper" software programs. Hell, Microsoft basically gave up on porting Office to UWP. You are also not seeing a lot of third party devs jumping on the UWP train. I feel Microsoft will stop pursing this eventually when they can't see it working, and therefore giving them money.
I feel they might weaken their "Windows Store only" policy to something along the lines of first publishing on Windows Store, and later on Steam, if only out of basic economic reasoning.

Of course, they might also just can all of their PC gaming investments and completely pull out, who knows?
well, for what it's worth - Matimeo said the store team at MS got a HUGE influx of people recently, so .... maybe something's going on after all
 

MegaApple

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My take on this is that Microsoft is much different than it used to be, and so I expect all studios will be much better off being with them than struggle and die off.
Esp for Inxile and Obsedian, this year wasn't kind enough to them.
 

CrazyJuan

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Thrilled at the prospect of more quality RPGs coming to my Xbox. I take heart at how MS has let Rare make the game they wanted to make as a sign that Matt Booty was serious when he stated on stage at XO that they intend to let these studios retain their culture. Also if it means stability and income for talented devs I dunno how anyone can be mad at that.
 
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