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Some rather interesting news here, both Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment (source) have now officially joined Microsoft.

Together, they've made some pretty interesting Linux games such as Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Tyranny, Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep and more to come.

Microsoft have been picking up quite a number of studios lately including Ninja theory, Compulsion Games, Undead Labs and also Playground Games so they're continuing to bolster their forces. They're facing huge competition in the console market, so it's likely to help with that more than anything.

News that I am sure will shock some Linux gamers, that's two pretty big studios that have been putting out games for Linux now under the roof of Microsoft. That's a little worrying, but it doesn't mean they will suddenly stop having Linux ports of their games. However, it does make Linux ports of their games slightly less likely I would think. As long as both studios retain a certain amount of freedom, I think we should be okay for future titles. Microsoft loves Linux after all…right?

I have to be honest, I'm a little in shock myself at this news.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Microsoft, Misc
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Salvatos Nov 13, 2018
PoE II didn't do great according to this guy.
C7z Nov 13, 2018
I hope Valve is paying attention to this, Shots are being fired directly at Valve i am awaiting your response to Microsoft..... Artifact is not it.
slaapliedje Nov 13, 2018
Quoting: SalvatosPoE II didn't do great according to this guy.
Heh, some of the people replying to that shows why it didn't do well. Complaints about isometric RPGs, old graphics, favoring JRPGs, claiming faux D&D rules...

Makes me glad I don't normally read tweets.

Here is my question... inXile and Obsidian are both mostly known for their RPGs that are very computer oriented... why would Microsoft want to buy them for Xbox gamers? I seriously feel it is more to slight Linux users. But Wasteland 2 did get released on all platforms / Operating systems. (Well, maybe not the Switch). So what, now the games will only be released on the Windows Store and Xbox? Will their sales be increased because of that? I doubt it....
amatai Nov 13, 2018
Quoting: GuestNaive question but did those game sell well ?
Yes
http://steamspy.com/app/291650 1M+
http://steamspy.com/app/240760 500K+
http://steamspy.com/app/362960 200k+
but less than the divinity games
Eike Nov 13, 2018
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I've bought Tyranny (Gold Edition), Pillars of Eternity II and Tides of Numenera now. I won't have time to play any of them at the moment, but they are great games for sure and I'll enjoy them some day. I want to give those who are supporting (have been supporting) Linux my money as long as they have not yet been bought.


Last edited by Eike on 13 November 2018 at 11:33 am UTC
Alyana Nov 13, 2018
Very sad news for me as a Linux gamer. If there will be PC CRPG games from Obsidian in the future, they will be of course Windows 10/Xbox exclusive. And Windows 10 has always been and will ever be a no-go for me. I will never betray my beliefs and values just to play a game that is exclusive on that OS.

I not only loved Obsidian for their superb games, but also for the multi platform releases. I fear, this is now history, because MS for sure won't tolerate Linux releases on Steam (thank you Steam for your efforts you take for the Linux gaming) or even DRM free on GoG.

It's so sad to see another studio selling out to such a greedy company.

Goodbye, Obsidian.
Kimyrielle Nov 13, 2018
Yeah, why would the world want medium sized studios anyway! Or any smaller business that doesn't completely dominate both its market and its customers. Bigger is better, right?

...

Right...
Eike Nov 14, 2018
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Tyranny had a no executable error. I had to copy the Tyranny.x64 (or something along these lines) executable to the "Tyranny" file that was expected by Steam. Is this a know problem?
Whitewolfe80 Nov 15, 2018
Quoting: GuestNaive question but did those game sell well ?
Its a niche so not mainsteam numbers there in lies the problem yes you can make a smash hit game on an indie budget but the follow up is hard because of a number of reasons. First time around it was new and you may of had youtubers and twitch steamers playing your game alot raising its profile the sequel that is not guarenteed.
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