Microsoft Reportedly On The Verge Of Purchasing Obsidian

Microsoft Reportedly On The Verge Of Purchasing Obsidian

Since being founded in 2003, Obsidian Entertainment has, slowly but surely, carved a pretty decent reputation for itself as a developer. Working on games such as Fallout New Vegas and (more recently) Pillars Of Eternity, the studio has a strong reputation for building solid RPG based games. That doesn’t, however, mean to say that the company has always had it easy. For example, in 2012 the company hit some rather difficult financial times and was only saved due to a last-minute project offer and crowdfunding for a new game.

In terms of studio purchases, they are exactly the kind of company that Microsoft has been looking towards in the last few years. As such, although it might come as a disappointment to many, a report via Kotaku would suggest that a deal for the purchase is set to imminently completed!

Is This Good News Or Bad News?

Well, I suppose that depends on your position. For Obsidian, for the moment at least, this is surely good news. A company like Microsoft clearly has deep pockets and is investing a lot in gaming at the moment. As such, Obsidian will probably find that they have access to money and resources never seen before. There is, however, also the flip side that they are no longer independent. They are working for Microsoft who are known to occasionally crack the whip in terms of projects.

In a nutshell, although working for yourself can be harder, you have a lot more flexibility than working for someone else!

When Will The Deal Go Through?

Although all parties have confirmed that discussions are underway, we have no fixed date when this should be confirmed. Unconfirmed reports are, however, suggesting that this is simply waiting for someone at Obsidian to sign on the dotted line. It is, therefore, considered roughly 90% complete with just the finalities required.

It will be interesting to see where Obsidian can go from here. If nothing else though, it does secure their future for the time being!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!