Microsoft Studios Announces Acquisitions of Obsidian and inXile

On a day filled with a plethora of announcements within the Xbox ecosystem, arguably the biggest comes at the tail end of the X018 FanFest, where Microsoft Studios officially announced the long rumored acquisition of Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment.

.@Obsidian and inXile join the Microsoft Family. https://t.co/BsdX6JwJhb #X018 #InsideXbox pic.twitter.com/Z8BkV1me3Q

— Xbox (@Xbox) November 10, 2018

 

“As part of our commitment to brining a steady stream of new, exclusive games to our fans, I’m excited to announce Microsoft’s intent to acquire two new game development studios – Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment”, Corporate VP of Microsoft Studios, Matt Booty stated in a press release right after the announcement. “It was important for us to find studio partners who have strong creative visions, a mastery of their medium and are expert world-builders. Obsidian and inXile embody all of these qualities while also bringing expertise on the PC platform and a unique RPG focus to the table”.

Obsidian Entertainment, best known for its development of Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: the Sith Lords, has over 15 years of experience crafting unique and genre defining RPGs to both the console and PC market. More recently, the studio has also developed South Park: the Stick of Truth and Pillars of Eternity, two multi-platform titles that have received positive reviews.

inXile Entertainment, whose two teams in Newport Beach and New Orleans, have primarily focused on heavy RPG experiences on PC, bring a multitude of resources and industry veterans to the Microsoft family. They are best known for such titles as Wasteland 2, Torment:Tides of Numenera, Bard’s Tale IV and Wasteland 3 (which is currently in development).

The acquisition now brings a total of seven new studios to Microsoft Studios since June 2018, and the overall total to 13 studios under the company’s umbrella. Booty reiterated the common message of first party, exclusive commitment that the Xbox team has been striving to bring fans over the year. “We are committed to expanding the MicrosoftStudios franchises players already love, and investing in new, exclusive content for every type of game.”

No specific games were announced for either developer, but Obsidian’s Twitter bio does state the company is currently working on an “unannounced RPG” with publisher Private Division. No confirmation was made if the game is intended for the Xbox One or not at the time of this writing.

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