Reports are now circling that Microsoft are close to buying yet another game development studio this year, in the form of Obsidian Entertainment, the developers behind titles such as Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth and Neverwinter Nights 2.
Microsoft announced back at E3 this year that they had taken five other studios into their fold, but it seems they aren't done yet, with sources speaking to Kotaku making the suggestion that the deal was "90% done", with another source citing it was part of Microsoft's strategy to sure up their PC gaming offering.
There's been no official word from Microsoft or Obsidian on the matter yet, which is to be expected, with a spokesperson telling Kotaku that they "do not comment on rumours or speculation", which is a fairly standard Microsoft response to requests for information they don't yet want to reveal, although Obsidian had a slightly more interesting statement to make;
Unfortunately, we don’t comment on rumours or speculation other than to say that the Rumors album by Fleetwood Mac still holds up...
So while it's not a sure fire thing just yet, it's looking likely that this will be a done deal. Luckily, Microsoft seem committed to making sure their newly acquired studios retain some creative freedom, lets hope Obsidian are treated to the same luxury.
Stay tuned to GameFront for more on this as it happens.
Oh no. I'm not really a fan of the massive consolidation of game developers in recent years. Obsidian is very highly regarded, and maybe could use some more resources, but I fear that getting access to more resources will also make the games it puts out less novel at the same time.
Microsoft sure is buying out a lot of things, GitHub being one of those purchases from not too long ago. On one hand, more resources for Obsidian is all fine and dandy, on the other I don't know what Microsoft would have them be doing and whatever it may be could probably be something very concerning.