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Obsidian Entertainment director Brandon Adler is tired of seeing “cold take artists” who are “running their mouths” about how the studio has changed following recent Xbox layoffs.
The developer responsible for directing The Outer Worlds 2, as well as a new unannounced project, made his feelings about the conversation surrounding Obsidian clear in a LinkedIn post (via Eurogamer). Noting that it’s been “an extremely difficult week” for the team, he spent time bidding farewell to those who were let go before addressing those who have been “coming out of the woodwork to talk about” what the studio “is or what it isn’t.”
“Another difficult aspect is having to see a bunch of cold take artists coming out of the woodwork to talk about what Obsidian is or what it isn’t,” Adler said. “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.”
Obsidian was one included in the laundry list of Xbox game developers caught in the line of fire when Microsoft announced widespread layoffs last week. At the time, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma described the cuts as “the most significant restructure” the gaming company has ever seen, resulting in 1,600 staff losing their jobs immediately, while another 1,600 are still yet to come throughout the financial year.
It’s a restructure that saw studios Ninja Theory and Undead Labs enter terms with new ownership as Double Fine and Compulsion Games became independent. While the fate of Marvel’s Blade developer Arkane Studios remains unclear, developers like ZeniMax Online, id Software, and Obsidian are said to have lost large chunks of their teams.
Amid uncertainty across Xbox, Adler is fighting back against those misrepresenting the talent Obsidian has gathered over the years. He said that, in many cases, “the people in lead or director roles are the same people that worked on games like The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, and New Vegas.”
“Like, literally the same people,” he added. “The through line from KotOR2 to our current games is pretty clear.
“Is Obsidian the same as it was 20 years ago? No, of course not. Nothing stays the same. But the DNA at Obsidian is the same as it always was. The same DNA that created KotOR, New Vegas, NWN2, and Stick of Truth.
“I’m extremely proud of our history and I am also excited for who we have become.”
Adler signed off, asking readers to remember that “people spouting off about Obsidian, running their mouths about who we are now vs. what we were then” are individuals who have “zero insight into how a game is made and who contributed to our previous games.” Meanwhile, in the aftermath of last week’s layoffs, Bloomberg reported that Obsidian recently canceled a sequel for its fantasy RPG, Avowed, and started work on a return to the Fallout universe with a new game led by Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer.
You can catch up on some of the other post-layoff news that has emerged here. For a look at what’s going on at Bethesda, you can click here.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
