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So, Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard. How will this affect the rest of the industry?
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this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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I'm with you on that one.
Obsidian and InXile had just started getting some new promising franchises up and running (Wasteland & Outer Worlds). It'd be a shame if they went 'Storefront Exclusive' already.
The last minute EGS timed-exclusive deal already screwed with the first TOW game's launch.
The concept of Storefront Exclusivity just shouldn't be a thing at all.
I don't even care about exclusive. Obsidian, CDProject, InXile and Larian are like the only studios left that make really good RPGs and whenever a studio gets bought out their quality absolutely plummets, I can't think of a single exception to that. I do like Larian's and CDProject's stuff but Obsidian RPGs have been my favourites and it just feels like I won't get another amazing Obsidian RPG. Like I already saw Bioware, Bethesda, Troika and Black Isle either disappear or have their quality go to absolute shit.
Also FYI Wasteland is like a super old franchise.
I agree. It's just one of those things that starts things off badly.
And MS has been pushing a bit for it, like EGS.
Also I'm painfully aware of the age of the OG Wasteland as I grew up with it. I was thinking more in the line of the crowdfunded ones, 2 & 3. InXile seemed well on track with 'em.
Didn't Troika and Black Isle essentially lead to the creation of Obsidian and InXile? You're basically listing the same studios multiple times. Plus there has been a lot of communication between Bioware and CD Projekt, leading to talent moving between those studios, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same is true for Larian.
Like 5 developers of Black Isle founded Obsidian but as far as I know Troika just disappeared along with it's developers. I can't find anything about Bioware and CD Project or Larian collaborating though.
Bioware and CD Projekt worked together on the first Witcher, because that game ran on Bioware's engine. The new director for Phantom Liberty and Cyberpunk's sequel came from Bioware, and he said in an interview that that past relationship is why they reached out to him for the position, insinuating it's not the first time it's happened and that the two companies had continued to be in contact over the years. Given CD Projekt's last two games' similarities to Bethesda's formula, it wouldn't surprise me if there was overlap with the developers of those studios as well; and the same extends to Larian and the inspirations they've clearly taken from old Bioware.
It's possible that all but about 5 developers from Troika left the industry after the company folded, but I'd call that the least likely scenario. In my own career (only briefly in games), people who liked working with me have reached out to hire me from previous working relationships between companies, and you tend to see a lot of the same people from job to job as a result.