Bethesda buying Obsidian rumors

Brother None

Brother None

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A quote from the latest Official Xbox Magazine has been making the rounds (for example, on The Vault).<blockquote>With ZeniMax on a spending spree, who might they gobble up next? The ball sees Obsidian (Fallout: New Vegas) as a prime target for the Fallout IP-holder.</blockquote>Worth considering as a rumor as it makes some sense, though OXM isn't offering anything they based it on, they might just be taking a shot in the dark.
 
Guiltyofbeingtrite said:
is Bethesda the new EA?
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Well, Zenimax.

But, basically, yes. They're expanding at a very high rate. With a lot of external financing too.

They haven't been a very good publisher so far so I can't say I'm ecstatic about it. But it's good for some of these studios, including possibly Obsidian, to get some steady backing, so I'm all for it as long as they don't push for them to shit out shitty games.

Buying Obsidian to turn them into a Fallout-specialized studio? Now that'd be sweeeeeeet. Unlikely, but sweet.
 
Brother None said:
Buying Obsidian to turn them into a Fallout-specialized studio? Now that'd be sweeeeeeet. Unlikely, but sweet.
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Really? I don't know. Turning Obsidian into a studio specializing exclusively in Fallout games could really hurt the chances for other good RPG's being released from that sector. I think that the best possibility (if Obsidian is purchased) would be that Obsidian is used for a variety of different games, but is specifically RPG-centric. Hopefully they would make all the Fallout games, but limiting them to "specialization" in Fallout would not be the best I think.
 
Faceless_Stranger said:
Would actually be good news to see Obsidian with some funds backing them.
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Bethesda ... Zenimax ... maybe I would agree with you if Zenimax/Bethesda would be known for making quality products. Not Fast-Food games.
 
It's difficult to tell without looking at the original article, but this could simply be the magazine speculating solely on the success of Fallout: New Vegas and the fact that ZeniMax has been buying studios recently.

Obsidian's success is largely due to them being independent and working on franchises such as KotOR, NVN, etc. I don't know if this will transition well in the event of an acquisition. Obsidian hasn't done too well when it comes to creating their own IP's (as seen with Alpha Protocol) and that could factor into it as well for a buyer.
 
LinuxLiesLove said:
If they buy Obsidian, then Interplay folds or gives up, could they buy Interplay?
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Why would they want to? Interplay folding would solve all their Fallout legal trouble-- it would be their best day ever.
 
Little Robot said:
LinuxLiesLove said:
If they buy Obsidian, then Interplay folds or gives up, could they buy Interplay?
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Why would they want to? Interplay folding would solve all their Fallout legal trouble-- it would be their best day ever.
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If they were going to buy or acquire stake in Interplay, they probably would have gotten a better price for them a few years ago anyway.
 
Imagine Obsidian doing a TES game. Would be the first good TES game since many years.

Beside this, if ZeniMax would really buy Obsidian, I don't know how I should feel about it. Maybe nothing will change for them, maybe a lot will change.
 
Lexx said:
Imagine Obsidian doing a TES game. Would be the first good TES game since many years.

Beside this, if ZeniMax would really buy Obsidian, I don't know how I should feel about it. Maybe nothing will change for them, maybe a lot will change.
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Well, when Zenimax bought Beth, didn't they pretty much leave the management and dev teams intact? Also, I don't know if I'd want Obsidian making a TES game... the only people that seemed to get the lore was old-Beth.
 
I haven't seen a single real info about this, only smalltalk and speculation.

But, if this (unlikely) happens to be true, only thing that I care about Obsidian is their "writing" part of the company. With id Software's technical backing and input, Zenimax financial and Bethesda Softworks distribution backing, they have a potential to... rule the world of games if they want to. I mean, I really don't know what they couldn't do (if everything working as it should) in that respect.

Of course, this is best case scenario, but I actually don't see any big inherent danger for Obsidian if they are to be bought by Zenimax... If latter continues to function as it was in the past. Thing that I don't know is what would be the reason for Zenimax to buy this frankly, tiny company. It's maybe better idea just to buy off writers and allocate them wherever they're most needed or offer them a job they prefer.
 
Obisidian + ID Tech 5 + Fallout = sounds good to me

On the other hand...

Obsidian + Zenimax = sounds horrible.

I have pretty mixed feelings about this.

I wouldn't mind if they bought Obsidian, if Bethesda would focus on their own piece of shit series, and if Chris Avellone was in charge of the series.

We shall see.
 
As long as the team would retain it's integrity, i guess. As was mentioned, labouring for egocentric morons is less than desirable and would be a waste of the talent.

This idea really confuses my boner.
 
Elven6 said:
It's difficult to tell without looking at the original article, but this could simply be the magazine speculating solely on the success of Fallout: New Vegas and the fact that ZeniMax has been buying studios recently.

Obsidian's success is largely due to them being independent and working on franchises such as KotOR, NVN, etc. I don't know if this will transition well in the event of an acquisition. Obsidian hasn't done too well when it comes to creating their own IP's (as seen with Alpha Protocol) and that could factor into it as well for a buyer.
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I'm quite convinced that if Obsidian were given proper backing and tools, they could really succeed in making a masterpiece. Hell, all they had this time around was the backing, thanks to the rubbish engine, and I feel that this game has done a lot of things right. With id's technowizardry, their ideas and BethSoft's financials, that could be a gaming tour de force.
 
If Zeni were to make the necessary changes... Maybe get rid of Todd Howard and the frat team that is Beth's devs, absorb Obsidian's writers into Bethesda and Id's programmers all while keeping the art team and PR... Hmmmmm...
 
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