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According to Kotaku, Microsoft is close to buying Obsidian

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In what could be a blow to Linux gamers who are fans of Obsidian RPGs, Microsoft is apparently close to acquiring the studio.

Kotaku writes:

One person with knowledge of the deal told Kotaku they’d heard it was “90%” finished. Said a second person: “It’s a matter of when, not if.”

So that sounds basically certain, that Microsoft will soon own Obsidian. Both Microsoft and Obsidian declined to comment on the rumour of course, as companies usually do when deals aren't yet finished.

Naturally, this will be a worry to Linux gamers since this could mean future Obsidian titles may not arrive on Linux like they have before. Obsidian has given Linux fans Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity II and Tyranny recently so it would be a huge shame not to have their next story-driven RPG land on Linux.

Microsoft acquiring anyone always makes me feel quite uneasy, since they could end up requiring future games they publish to be exclusive to their own store therefore locking out Steam. At least if they stayed on Steam and didn't do a Linux version (for whatever reason) of their next set of games, we would have Steam Play's Proton so it wouldn't be such a major issue.

However, Microsoft seems to have done a good job at letting Mojang continue doing their thing with the Java edition of Minecraft so perhaps it will work out okay.

What are your thoughts?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc, Speculation
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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70 comments
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slaapliedje Oct 10, 2018
Quoting: KingtabbycatThe chances for a native version of KOTOR just dropped a drastic amount (not to say they were high in the first place!) :S:

KOTOR was developed by Bioware, KOTOR 2 was developed by Obsidian and already has a native release.
Shmerl Oct 10, 2018
Quoting: slaapliedjeI still have my Jolla shirt, but they still owe me like 100 dollars for the tablet I never got.

Heh, same here. They paid me part of the backer pledge back, but nothing since then.
Koopacabras Oct 10, 2018
Remember games for windows?? it failed miserably. Most of the gfw support was removed and the support and updates was transfered to steam. Can someone tell how Microsoft is planning to resurrect gaming on it's store?? The only thing that survived it's the Xbox store, sort of.


Last edited by Koopacabras on 10 October 2018 at 1:18 am UTC
TheRiddick Oct 10, 2018
Their titles will all be pulled and forced on the MS Store echo system which as you all know doesn't support Linux... wonderful.

MS can resurrect gaming on their store by buying up developers and slowly pushing other devs to use it, eventually maybe forcing valve to run through the MS Store... its their dream and you must remember Windows is owned by MS, they can do whatever the fck they like in the end!


Last edited by TheRiddick on 10 October 2018 at 1:20 am UTC
SolipsistWerewolf Oct 10, 2018
Ugh. I've got a few solid DRM-free Linux native RPGs from them. The chances that those will remain under this transition is not high seeing as Microsoft loves their shitty Windows Store.

If that does come true, I lost some future games, and they lost a potential customer.
TheRiddick Oct 10, 2018
MS is still within their right to lock EVERYONE down into their store, it's only a matter of time. I doubt they will get away with a fee for using MS Store however, that's going too far and might cause a surge of devs jumping to other platforms.
Salvatos Oct 10, 2018
Quoting: 14I feel like it's more important to buy any remaining Obsidian games on my wish list DRM-free. *walks over to GOG*
Good point. I have yet to buy and play anything past the first PoE base game, but when I do GOG might be a safer option, if this comes to pass.
oldrocker99 Oct 10, 2018
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Why couldn't it have been InXile?:><:
gojul Oct 10, 2018
Bad news. :-(

Fingers crossed they'll continue to make Linux games but unsure about that.
STiAT Oct 10, 2018
Not nice. Not nice at all. That's bad news. Let's hope they still fail to seal the deal in the end.
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