For those who enjoy RPGs, Obsidian Entertainment is a company that some of you might know. Some of their notable titles include Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and in recent years they have also successfully crowdfunded games in the form of the Pillars of Eternity series.
The studio has remained largely independent since its inception but if a report from Kotaku is to be believed, it seems that the company could soon be bought over by Microsoft. Kotaku’s sources have told them that Microsoft is apparently close to acquiring Obsidian. The deal has yet to be finalized and there is still a possibility that it could fall through, but apparently they are close to putting pen to paper.
Microsoft has since denied to comment on the report, while an Obsidian spokesperson said, “Unfortunately, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation other than to say that the Rumors album by Fleetwood Mac still holds up.” It will be interesting to see how Obsidian will operate should they be acquired by Microsoft, but no doubt having access to Microsoft’s resources should help ease any development woes related to funding, although it could also mean less freedom to do whatever they want.
Just last year the company announced that one of their upcoming titles will be skipping microtransactions, although should Microsoft acquire them we wonder what they might have to say about it, especially when microtransactions have proven to be a very effective and lucrative business model for many developers and publishers.
Filed in . Read more about Microsoft.