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Obsidian's game development pedigree is entwined with the very history of western cRPGs.
Their RPG roots can be traced to before Obsidian Entertainment was even formed. The veteran visionaries of the company, Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, and Josh Sawyer, among others, were the leading figures of Black Isle Studios.
As an Interplay Games subsidiary, this studio had worked on the peak examples of golden-era cRPG, including franchises like Fallout, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur's Gate.
In the early 2010s, Obsidian hit a financial crisis owing mostly to their many canned projects. A decade later, they are on much better footing, thanks to the success of their first crowdfunded IP, Pillars of Eternity, and its sequel.
So emphatic is their post-Pillars meteoric rise that they are poised to be one of the biggest studios to look out for in the upcoming years.
Five reasons for Obsidian Entertainment's growing prominence
1) From sequel-makers to IP owners
Despite their unquestionable talent, some of their most successful last-gen titles are sequels of licensed properties owned by others. For them, Pillars of Eternity was not just a financial turnaround that saved the company but also their first intellectual property to garner mainstream attention and acclaim.
Obsidian no longer needs to dwell in the shadows of BioWare or Bethesda today, and The Outer Worlds is thus another significant leap in the AAA direction.
2) Avowed, the 'Skyrim killer'
Obsidian Entertainment is sinking most of its current developmental resources on Avowed. Set in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity, one of the biggest c-RPG offerings of the last decade, Avowed has been hailed by the community as their take on Bethesda's Elder Scrolls formula.
The indefinite and long wait to the next Elder Scrolls game has created a void in its unique niche, which Bethesda has been filling so far with its numerous Skyrim re-releases.
Obsidian has outdone Bethesda at their own game before in Fallout: New Vegas. With the Microsoft resources Obsidian now has at its disposal, Avowed, in all likelihood, might just occupy Skyrim's throne.
3) The Outer Worlds 2 hype
In a sense, The Outer Worlds was the full realization of Josh Sawyer's ideas that were left unexplored in Fallout: New Vegas, a Bethesda game that Obsidian developed with many of the original makers of Fallout 1 and 2.
A great deal about The Outer Worlds echoes the muted apocalyptic parody of consumerism that Fallout is known for, and its core gameplay loop also vaguely echoes Fallout: New Vegas. However, instead of trying to hark back to the original Fallout's charm, Obsidian's game has developed its own distinct identity.
As Bethesda continues to salvage its reputation in the Fallout fanbase after the disastrous launch of Fallout 76, The Outer Worlds sits on top of three million worldwide sales, and the sequel bolsters the confidence to deconstruct cinematic teasers whimsically.
4) 'Pentiment', Obsidian's ambitious take on Disco Elysium
Last year, Josh Sawyer confirmed that he was working with Obsidian on a project distinct from Avowed.
As per Jeff Grubb, a writer and game designer who has worked with Josh Sawyer before, the latter's current project is not the confirmed sequel to The Outer Worlds.
Codenamed 'Pentiment', it is currently a passion project being worked on by a small team with Sawyer at the helm. It takes cues from Disco Elysium in that it will have no combat to speak of, Grubb said in an interview with MrMattyplays.
A dialogue-heavy RPG in its most classical sense, it will focus on player role-playing, choices, and consequences. The setting, far from Disco Elysium's 1870s France during the Paris Commune, will be 16th Century Europe, albeit still with the convenient structure of a murder mystery.
It just so happens that dialogue-heavy cRPGs have long been Obsidian's forte, as found in Pillars of Eternity or the lesser-known Tyranny. It is an ambitious strife to capture the unparalleled mastercraft that is Disco Elysium. Still, it is also possibly the best way for Obsidian to dip their toes back into their cRPG roots.
5) Grounded: Think survival-craft, but smaller
Obsidian had kept their focus and reputation as role-playing games developers foremost in the last decade, but they have ventured outside their familiar genre of late.
With the public release of Grounded in July 2021, Obsidian also has a horse in the survival-craft race. Grounded is currently in early access, the current target for the full release being sometime in 2022.
Note: This article reflects the author's views.
