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Microsoft rumored to be acquiring Obsidian Entertainment

Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity was crowdfunded through Kickstarter. (Source: TechRaptor)
Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity was crowdfunded through Kickstarter. (Source: TechRaptor)
It appears Microsoft is looking to buy out Obsidian Entertainment, if a report from Kotaku is accurate. Microsoft has acquired a number of video-game studios over the last few years, including paying US$2.5 billion to take over Mojang, the company that created Minecraft, in 2014. Obsidian has been behind titles such as Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity.

An article from Kotaku has commented on Microsoft’s intentions to acquire Obsidian Entertainment. A source speaking to the video-game website stated that the deal was “90%” done. If Microsoft goes ahead and buys the California-based RPG specialists then the latter will join a growing list of video-game companies that have been snapped up by the tech giant. As recently as June of this year, executives at Microsoft went on a spending spree and acquired Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, Compulsion Games, and Playground Games.

Obsidian Entertainment has been in operation since 2003 and rose out of the ashes of Black Isle Studios, a company that had been involved in both the Fallout and Baldur’s Gate series. Obsidian became noted for work on role-playing games, including Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, Dungeon Siege III, and South Park: The Stick of Truth. One of the studio’s highlights was the 2015 release Pillars of Eternity, which was highly praised and followed by a sequel in 2018.

By grabbing a studio like Obsidian, Microsoft would be further expanding its video-game industry portfolio, and it would offer a new option for developing future Xbox and PC titles, especially those in the RPG genre. The rumored deal would also be considerably favorable for Obsidian, which has struggled with financial issues in the past.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2018 10 > Microsoft rumored to be acquiring Obsidian Entertainment
Daniel R Deakin, 2018-10- 9 (Update: 2018-10-10)