Obsidian has explained that the studio's goal as of late is to establish what an "Obsidian RPG" actually is, allowing it to stand out from the RPG crowd after years of working on follow-ups to others' franchises.
There are certain studios where you know what you're getting. Like if I say 'Bethesda RPG,' you know you're getting a first-or-third person game in a massive world, with a ton of dialogue choices, interactable objects and more glitches than the new Football Manager game. The same way 'Larian RPG' will conjure images of a CRPG with mass amounts of depth and highly customisable builds.
But despite years of making beloved RPGs, 'Obsidian RPG' isn't a term in the same vein, which makes sense when you look at the studio's output. Obsidian made its name by creating sequels to established franchises like Fallout, Knights of the Old Republic, and Neverwinter Nights (and basically Paper Mario with South Park: The Stick of Truth).
However, Obsidian's output since being bought by Microsoft has been focused on its own IP, and speaking to The Game Business, Obsidian's VP of operations Marcus Morgan and VP of development Justin Britch say that's very much the intention. "When I look at Larian's RPGs, or Bethesda's RPGs, or CD Projekt's RPGs, they are compared, but they’re all very different. I want a different experience when I go play Baldur's Gate than I do when I go play Cyberpunk," Morgan says.
He adds: "Our goal with The Outer Worlds and Avowed is to more clearly define what it is to be Obsidian as a standalone entity, as opposed to chasing after what already exists."
Morgan explains that "the journey around The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed put [our approach] to the test quite a bit". He adds that there was "self doubt" about whether the studio should "be chasing after these aspects of AAA?" However, in making the duo of 2025 RPGs, Morgan explains "we went through that journey, the lesson we learned was… stay true to our roots and keep building the games we make."
