Microsoft finalizing Obsidian acquisition, sources say

Beloved RPG developer Obsidian may soon be part of Microsoft's growing first-party studios

Microsoft is planning to buy Obsidian Entertainment, and the deal is almost complete, multiple sources tell Kotaku's Jason Schreier. Obsidian, whose independence has been kept afloat thanks to big crowd-funded games like Pillars of Eternity, is currently developing an unannounced RPG to be published by Take-Two Interactive's Private Division. Sources tell TweakTown this RPG will be "Obsidian's answer to Fallout" but will instead be new IP with Fallout creator Tim Cain at the helm.

This buyout would be the latest in Microsoft's running string of acquisitions; at E3 2018 the company folded independent developers like Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, and Compulsion Games into its Microsoft Game Studios banner. Under Microsoft, Obsidian would enjoy strong funding for its projects, but previous bad blood over its cancelled Stormlands game could interfere with internal studio politics.

Grabbing Obsidian will undoubtedly bolster Microsoft's flagging games releases and could help bring more much-needed RPG exclusives to the platform. We can't wait to see what the devs have up their sleeves next, and how this will affect the gaming world.