While most game studios are looking for ways to earn more money and grow exponentially, that’s not whatAvoweddeveloper Obsidian Entertainment’s goal is.
Studio executives Marcus Morgan, VP of Operations, and Justin Britch, VP of Development, discussed the studio’s long-term goals at this week’s DICE Summit (viaPCGamer).
Josh Sawyer Discusses Avowed And The Future Of Obsidian
In a recent interview, Josh Sawyer discussed the Pillars universe and Avowed, alongside other talks about the company, like its Xbox partnership.
Obsidian Has A 100-Year Plan
The studio bosses hope the studio will be around for 100 years, and they are planning on doing that by setting realistic sales expectations, staying lean, and not trying to go all-in on huge profits in every game.
While the company considered opening multiple international offices, that plan didn’t go through, as Obsidian preferred to stick to its “lean and invested” plan. The studio doesn’t want employees to feel like cogs in a big machine, which usually happens with big studios.
Interestingly enough, when the studio greenlights a game, it spends a lot of time determining how many resources to invest in the project, assuming that it will be a “mild success” and not a smash hit. Unlike most game studios, Obsidian aims for a more realistic target goal, so it doesn’t need to hit a home run in every game they release.
Morgan and Britch’s plan for the studio includes building institutional knowledge by aiming for “the lowest turnover rate in the industry,” which is no small feat to accomplish.
Every Obsidian Entertainment Game, Ranked
Founded in 2003, Obsidian Entertainment is one of the best storytellers and developers in gaming, so here’s a look through their extensive catalog.
Obsidian Entertainment was founded in 2003 by Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Parker, Darren Monahan, and Chris Jones after the closure of Black Isle Studios. Since the studio’s inception, they have worked on memorable games such as Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Fallout: New Vegas and more.
In 2018, Microsoft wholly acquired Obsidian, though that hasn’t stopped the studio from producing topnotch titles. Under Microsoft, Obsidian has released survival action-adventure game Grounded (84% of critics recommend it viaOpen Critic), the text-heavy narrative game Pentinment (86% of criticsrecommend it), and most recently, Avowed, which is currently sitting at a “Strong” rating with85% of critics recommending the RPG.
With the video game industry sufferinglayoffsandstudio closuresdue to unrealistic expectations, it’s nice to see at least one studio that isn’t sales-driven and seems to thrive. Let’s hope other studios learn from Obsidian’s more realistic approach to game development.
Avowed will be released on February 18 on the Xbox Series X|S and PC, and it will also be available day one on Game Pass.
