Can't believe the studio that created the RPG legends that are KOTOR and Mass Effect comes to such an ignominious end. Gutted. They (and we) deserve better, smh...now we all just get to wonder what could've been
I don't think there was anyone left from when they made those games anyway. Casey Hudson, Caroline Livingstone, Ryan Hoyle, Melanie Faulknor, and Dan Fessenden all made Arcanaut Studios and are developing Fate of the Old Republic as we speak. Drew Karpyshyn, James Ohlen, and Chad Robertson fled Bioware 7 years ago and are about to release Exodus next year, and David Gaider went to found an Australian indie studio I don't recall the name of. Not a single lead writer or developer or even their seconds that handled key characters/aspects from the days of KOTOR/KOTOR II, Mass Effect, the first two DA games, Baldur's Gate, or Neverwinter is still with the studio, and none of them have been for years now. The studio has existed in name only since about 2018 with only a few key members staying a couple years longer until they left during Veilguard's development.
This btw is exactly the same reason why people keep getting surprised when Obsidian releases a dud. The Obsidian they knew is again largely not there. With pretty much just the exception of Sawyer, who tbf did make the fantastic Pentiment
Yep. But that's the thing about video games. They are collaborative efforts. You have a whole team of writers, teams of artists, cults of coders, etc. When we get a good game, it's because the leads had a good idea and they all do their job. When we get great games from the same studio repeatedly to the point they become a legend, it's because the whole group had chemistry together that allowed them to make something greater than the sum of its parts. That was always the Bioware magic, and Obsidian is no exception to the rule either.
That kinda applies to everything up to like sports because that does take quite a physical element still. One person with a good head on their shoulders tends to make all the difference.
Say what you want about Bethesda, or even just Todd Howard in particular, but you need crazy unaging bastards like him to make those games. As someone who has yet to be really disappointed by them, his retirement will finally make me worry.
I am more cautiously optimistic that Sawyer is heading the new Fallout. Pentiment shows that Sawyer still got it with his writing chops. If it was Obsidian but not Sawyer heading it I would treat it with the same irreverence I would about Bethesda's fallout.
They also got back Tim Cain who was the lead on the first Fallout and also worked on 2.
Obviously that's not an automatic guarantee it's going to be good but if they've got both the guy who led New Vegas and the guy who did the originals (on which NV heavily drew compared to Bethesda) then they are almost certainly going to be striving for the same style.
No, two are, Tim Cain and Boyarsky didn't work on New Vegas, they're just with Obsidian. Only Sawyer and Gonzalez are still there as people that actively shaped New Vegas. Only about 1/7 of the New Vegas team is still at Obsidian
Obsidian was founded by Feargas Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Parker, Darren Monahan, and Chris Jones. All of them except Avellone are still at Obsidian. 4 of the 5 founders remain.
Bioware could have hired talented people to continue the great work that the original creators did. Walt Disney was long dead when the Disney renaissance of the 1990s happened.
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u/L1ghtf1ghter 7h ago
Can't believe the studio that created the RPG legends that are KOTOR and Mass Effect comes to such an ignominious end. Gutted. They (and we) deserve better, smh...now we all just get to wonder what could've been