Obsidian Entertainment is one of several prolific studios affected by Xbox's layoffs, with job losses and reportedly substantial changes to its release slate. After taking some time to consider his response, the co-director of The Outer Worlds 2 has publicly commented on what's going on and has some choice words for anyone spreading unsubstantiated rumors.
"This has been an extremely difficult week at Obsidian," Brandon Adler, who's now directing an unannounced project at Obsidian, writes on LinkedIn. "Not only have I had to say goodbye to some amazing game developers, but I've had to say goodbye to some of my best friends. I truly feel for every one of them. Know that if you are looking to hire one of these former Obsidian devs, you are hiring some of the best people around - both professionally and personally."
He then takes aim at the "cold take artists" who've been commenting and speculating about the current landscape and atmosphere at Obsidian. "The number of times I've seen people, with no understanding of who has worked on our previous games or what they contributed, talk about how Obsidian isn't who they used to be... is staggering. Most of the time they are not just wrong, but spreading an enormous amount of misinformation."
He goes on to mention that current higher-ups are people who worked on major Obsidian releases such as Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds. "The through line from Knights of the Old Republic 2 to our current games is pretty clear," he adds.
"Is Obsidian the same as it was 20 years ago? No, of course not. Nothing stays the same," Adler says. "But the DNA at Obsidian is the same as it always was. The same DNA that created Knights of the Old Republic, New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2, and South Park: The Stick of Truth."
Two things can be true at once: Obsidian's lost a considerable amount of talent due to changes imposed by Microsoft, and there are still plenty of seasoned devs working away at the studio. The future is uncertain, even with the prospect of a new Fallout, and I believe it's important to acknowledge the real and true difficulties of the current climate for the company and Xbox's development teams as a whole.
"I'm extremely proud of our history and I am also excited for who we have become," Adler says to finish. "Just remember, when you are seeing people spouting off about Obsidian, running their mouths about who we are now vs. what we were then, you are listening to someone crow about something with zero insight into how a game is made and who contributed to our previous games."
