Obsidian, and Why Xbox’s Acquisition Strategy is Staying Out of the Way
When Feargus Urquhart walked into a 2018 pitch meeting with then-Xbox senior director of business development Noah Musler, he thought he was pitching Avowed. But what he was really pitching was the entirety of Obsidian Entertainment.
They were having breakfast at that year’s E3, just after Xbox announced it was acquiring Undead Labs, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion Games, as well as establishing The Initiative. At the time, Urquhart wasn’t even aware of the industry-shaking news. He was, as he tells me, “plugged into his own stuff,” focused on making Avowed look as appealing as possible to people like Musler who could potentially help Obsidian get it out the door in a few years. He made the pitch for Avowed. Musler responded by suggesting Urquhart repeat his pitch again…this time in a bigger room, with more Xbox folks listening in.
It wasn’t until the middle of that week that Musler called Urquhart back and told him that what he had really sold Xbox on was acquiring the entirety of Obsidian, the studio he had been at the head of since 2003.
Obsidian was born from the ashes of Black Isle Studios, which gained fame through games like Icewind Dale, Baldur’s Gate, the first two Fallout titles, and Planetscape: Torment. Black Isle’s 2003 closure came as a result of financial trouble at parent company Interplay. Obsidian was founded soon after, and went on to enjoy 15 years of independent success with games like Pillars of Eternity, Neverwinter Nights, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, and Fallout: New Vegas. With a history like that and no financial need for a parent, why get acquired at all?
According to Urquhart, acquisition by a giant like Microsoft was a leap of faith.
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