Microsoft is reportedly in the final stages of acquiring notable RPG developer Obsidian Entertainment according to no fewer than three people familiar with the deal. The news comes to us via Kotaku who spoke to each of the sources. While there is still a chance the acquisition may not happen, these individuals are all but certain the deal will close fairly soon. As one source puts it, “It’s a matter of when, not if.”
Obsidian Entertainment has worked on several highly regarded video games based on popular franchises such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, South Park: The Stick of Truth and Fallout: New Vegas. The studio’s original titles include Alpha Protocol and the crowd-funded Pillars of Eternity.
Despite having worked on many well received games, Obsidian Entertainment has faced financial difficulties over the years. The company never received a bonus for its work on Fallout: New Vegas due to the game’s metacritic score of 84; Bethesda Softwork’s policy was to pay out bonuses for meta scores of 85 or more. Obsidian Entertainment also saw a fair number of its projects canceled including Stormlands – an action RPG that was commissioned by Microsoft and then canceled back in 2012. Last year executives at Obsidian Entertainment openly stated that the company was open to an acquisition if “the right opportunity” came along.
Microsoft declined to comment when asked about the possible acquisition. If such a deal is made there is a strong possibility it will be announced next month at the XO event in Mexico City.
