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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | June 12, 2003 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , US[1] |
Number of employees | 200[2] (2019) |
| Parent | Xbox Game Studios (2018–present) |
| Website | obsidian.net |
Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Irvine, California and part of Xbox Game Studios. It was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios, by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Parker, Darren Monahan, and Chris Jones.
Although they have created original intellectual property, many of their games are sequels based on licensed properties. Early projects included Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2, both sequels to BioWare-developed games. The team then developed their first original game, Alpha Protocol, in 2010. Other notable works from Obsidian include Fallout: New Vegas, Dungeon Siege III, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, all of which are also licensed properties.
Throughout the studio's history, many projects—including Futureblight, Dwarfs, Aliens: Crucible, and Stormlands—were canceled. Due to having so many projects canceled, the company entered a severe financial crisis in 2012. As a result, Obsidian decided to crowdfund their next game, Pillars of Eternity, a role-playing game played from an isometric perspective, which ultimately became a success and saved the studio from closure. The team's focus then changed from developing licensed titles to creating original games based on the studio's own intellectual property, including a sequel to Pillars of Eternity.
In November 2018, Obsidian Entertainment was acquired by Microsoft and became part of Microsoft Studios (now known as Xbox Game Studios). Their latest releases are the survival game Grounded and adventure game Pentiment. The studio is currently developing Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2.
- ^ Mueller, Mark (August 11, 2008). "Game Companies Taking Office Space at Faster Clip". Orange County Business Journal. p. 82.
- ^ Mäki, Jonas (August 24, 2019). "Obsidian Entertainment has now reached 200 employees". Gamereactor. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.