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Obsidian Entertainment Rejected an Acquisition by a Major Publisher Before Microsoft Buyout

Obsidian Entertainment Rejected an Acquisition by a Major Publisher Before Microsoft Buyout - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 November 2021 / 2,815 Views

Obsidian Entertainment studio head Feargus Urquhart speaking with GamesIndustry revealed the developer was approached by another major publisher with an offer to be acquired, however, the studio rejected the offer.

"We were approached by another major publisher, and I was having lunch [with] one of the main people at the publisher, and they said 'well have you ever thought about being acquired?'" Urquhart said. "I said 'yeah, of course,' and then what they ultimately said was 'well we're just having a real hard time hiring people right.'"

Urquhart added this major publisher wanted to move the entire Obsidian team to their ongoing game, which they were having trouble hiring for. The reason the studio did not accept the offer was that it was not a cultural fit and "they have to be people you can sit down and have a beer with, and if they're not, well maybe you have to reconsider."

The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas developer was acquired by Microsoft in November 2018 and was integrated into Xbox Game Studios.


A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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17 Comments
G2ThaUNiT (on 11 October 2021)

Avowed is one of my most, if not the most, anticipated games! I’m really glad they’re with MS now and can finally let their creative talents finally show without the shortage of time or budget. Or without being reduced to just a support studio.

  • +8
GoOnKid (on 11 October 2021)

My guess is EA.
Side note: here we have proof that you can't just buy studios left and right as you please, the studio has to agree with it. A common notion on this site suggests that it wouldn't matter what the studios thought and that only the money counted. Guess that is finally debunked.

  • +7
S.Peelman (on 12 October 2021)

If it was EA, then I’d say good job.

  • +4
NextGen_Gamer (on 11 October 2021)

This has got to be Amazon, and were probably hoping Obsidian could take over the reins of the (just-launched) New World game. New World was in development hell for years - but it does seem to have launched in a pretty good state!

  • +4
EspadaGrim (on 11 October 2021)

Possibly EA, Take-Two or more likely Blizzard then, I highly doubt that it was Ubisoft .

Very glad that they didn’t accept the offer and ended up with MS.

  • +3
The Fury (on 12 October 2021)

Would be ironic if it was Bethesda.

  • 0
Mr Puggsly (on 11 October 2021)

Now that MS is seemingly giving developers more freedom and I can access new games on Gamepass, very happy they are with MS.

  • 0
AkimboCurly (on 11 October 2021)

EA

  • 0
Random_Matt (on 11 October 2021)

Who's having trouble hiring?

  • 0
2zosteven Random_Matt (on 11 October 2021)

almost every employer in the united states is having problems hiring people.

  • +4
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Dulfite (on 11 October 2021)

I predict it was Nintendo and they were planning on merging Obsidian into Retro Studios so that they can have enough people to develop 5 game series at the same time:

1) Raven Blade
2) Starfox Adventures 2
3) Metroid Prime 4
4) Donkey Kong Country Returns 3
5) The Outer Worlds 2: A Link to Samus

Game #5 would launch a shared Metroid and The Outer Worlds universe.

  • -1
Ashadelo (on 11 October 2021)

Lol, Sony Didn't have enough money

  • -3
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G2ThaUNiT shikamaru317 (on 11 October 2021)

That’s what I thought as well, but I wouldn’t consider Amazon a “major publisher” since they’ve only now had a major release lol

  • -1