The Game Business<\/a> listed the Microsoft-owned studio, which developed the much-loved Fallout: New Vegas, alongside State of Decay developer Undead Labs, Psychonauts developer Double Fine, Hellblade developer Ninja Theory, and South of Midnight developer Compulsion as currently negotiating with Xbox leadership to avoid closure. Separately, Marvel’s Blade developer Arkane Lyon is also said to be under threat<\/a>.<\/p>\n These studios may be sold rather than closed as part of a process that may take some time. And even if the studios are spun off, they may not avoid layoffs. IGN has asked Microsoft for comment about the layoffs reports, but it has yet to respond.<\/p>\n The 100 Best Xbox Games of All Time Obsidian is without a new announced project after both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 failed to hit commercial targets<\/a>. There were rumors that the developer was making another Avowed game, but The Outer Worlds 3 was said to be not in development. On a more positive note, Grounded 2<\/a> \u2014 yet another 2025 launch \u2014 was a hit. But of the three games Obsidian released last year, it had the shortest (and almost certainly the cheapest) development period by far.<\/p>\n Microsoft bought Obsidian alongside Wasteland developer inXile back in 2018. Since then it has released The Outer Worlds 1 and 2, Grounded 1 and 2, Pentiment, and Avowed. Just last week, Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer, who is still at Obsidian, told The 41st Precinct<\/a>, that he had no idea if he’d get the chance to make a new Fallout game \u2014 because that would be a decision that would come from on high, as it did when he was tasked with making New Vegas.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are things that take place above my head, right?\u201d Sawyer responded when asked if he thought Obsidian might be given the chance to make a Fallout sequel or remake or be involved in the franchise in any way again.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m just a director. I’m the studio design director, which is kind of an advisory position to the teams, and then I’m a game director. But there are titans above me who decide what happens with IPs and things like that. It’s not up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo one day you’ll just find out you’ve got to make a Fallout game?\u201d, Sawyer was asked.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it’s how it happened with New Vegas, so who knows?\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n New Xbox boss Asha Sharma is reportedly speeding up development on new The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Halo games, and some had thought that Obsidian might have been drafted in to make a new Fallout game as part of that, either a Fallout: New Vegas 2 or something else in the franchise.<\/p>\n “I know everyone on the internet, on every game we ever announce, will constantly reference back to, ‘When’s the next New Vegas?'” Obsidian’s VP of operations Marcus Morgan said last year<\/a>, referencing the studio’s beloved Fallout game that’s served as the inspiration for the hit Amazon TV series’ second season setting.<\/p>\n Sharma sent shockwaves through the video game industry with her now infamous \u201creset\u201d memo, in which she revealed that Microsoft’s gaming business has a 3% accountability margin (assumed to mean profit margin). “Excluding Activision Blizzard King, over the past five years, we have spent over $20 billion on ongoing investments in our content, platform, and hardware subsidy, but our annual revenue has declined nearly half a billion during that time. Going forward, this cannot continue,” Sharma said.<\/p>\n Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has warned of a \u201cbloodbath\u201d at Xbox<\/a>. Meanwhile, Microsoft is reassessing its investment in externally developed games. It just pulled funding for IO Interactive\u2019s upcoming fantasy project<\/a>, which Xbox was set to publish. Hideo Kojima\u2019s Xbox horror game OD, however, is safe from the chopping block<\/a>.<\/p>\n Microsoft told Bloomberg<\/a> it is \u201ctaking a fresh look at where we invest so we\u2019re focusing on our highest priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re not reducing our overall investment in games. We expect to invest about the same in content as we did last year. What’s changing is where we’re investing and the kinds of projects we’re backing,\u201d Microsoft said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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How do you rank Obsidian’s games?How do you rank Obsidian’s games?<\/p>\n