Xbox’s massive and still ongoing reorganisation has pushed Obsidian Entertainment under Bethesda’s umbrella. Despite the quite drastic corporate shakeup, Bethesda’s president is promising folks the iconic RPG developer will hold onto its “creative identity.”
Xbox’s so-called “reset” kicked off earlier this year with the console maker laying off 1,600 workers and parting ways with five first-party developers. This week’s continuation saw a further 268 roles cut across the division, and plenty of studios have moved around Microsoft’s various gaming divisions as a result. Halo, Rare (Sea of Thieves) and World’s Edge (Age of Empires) are now under Activision’s control, while Obsidian Entertainment is being folded into Bethesda – all of them used to fall under the Xbox Game Studios banner.
While some fans are worried Obsidian might be downgraded to a mere support studio – it’s currently developing a new Fallout game with Bethesda Game Studios, after all – Bethesda president Jill Braff told employees there’s not much to worry about.
“The creative identity and strengths that make Obsidian distinct will remain at the core of their studio and work,” Braff said in an email to staff, according to a copy seen by Aftermath. “[CEO Feargus Urquhart] and the Obsidian leadership team will continue to lead Obsidian, with the studio reporting to me. Bethesda Game Studios will continue to lead the Fallout franchise. Together, the teams will build on their longstanding relationship and the early work already underway on a new Fallout project, with more to share in the months ahead. This structure supports the franchise-led model we’ve been strengthening while keeping accountability for both the studio and the franchise clear.”
In Xbox’s first round of mass layoffs this summer, the famed role-playing powerhouse reportedly lost around 25% of its workforce and had to cancel several in-development projects. The above “franchise-led model” seems to have been the reason why. Former Xbox leadership took an oddly hands-free approach to many of its in-house developers, but new CEO Asha Sharma has been more forthcoming about her desire to focus on the firm’s biggest of big names – The Elder Scrolls, Halo, Fallout, etc. Many of Obsidian’s original games this generation, including Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, apparently underperformed, perhaps explaining why it’s now back playing in Fallout’s radioactive wasteland.
