Obsidian Explains Their Turbulent History With Microsoft Before They Were Bought Out

gameranx.com:

Obsidian has shared some interesting insights into their acquisition by Microsoft, as well as Avowed in a recent new video.

The company had been making a multi-part documentary about their history, to celebrate their 20th anniversary in the industry. But to explain why this story was significant, we have to talk about events from before this video.

In 2011 Obsidian pitched a game idea for Microsoft, to be a launch game for the Xbox One. Stormlands was to be an action RPG where you had companions, and the game world itself was constantly beset by storms.

Obsidian had high ambitions for the game. They wanted the storms to affect even the magic you used. Microsoft had even higher hopes for the game. They pitched Obsidian on using tech to make a ‘multi-man raid’ – a gameplay feature where as much as 40 players can participating in fighting a single enemy, and later be given gameplay footage unique to each player, all recorded and stored in the cloud.

Unfortunately, as is the case in many stories of Microsoft around this time, they had mismanaged the project. As opposed to not intervening when it was clear that Redfall was not turning out well, Microsoft asked too much from Obsidian for Stormlands. Obsidian proved to not be up to the task of living up to even their own ambitions, even after ramping up employees. And so, as reported by Eurogamer, this story sadly ends with Microsoft cancelling Stormlands in 2012, and Obsidian having to fire a number of staff.

Obsidian continued to have money issues after this cancellation. They took to crowdfunding to chart out a new independent career, first with Pillars of Eternity, and then Tyranny.

Obsidian’s staff heard murmurs about talks with Microsoft, as with other publishers and game