Obsidian’s Ambitious Plans After a Stellar 2025
In 2025, Obsidian rolled out three titles, but don’t expect the studio to become an RPG factory anytime soon. The prolonged development phases of Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 coincidentally aligned for a release trifecta alongside Grounded 2, which has recently entered early access. Moving forward, however, Obsidian aims to establish a more consistent release schedule, with Fallout: New Vegas serving as a prime example of how this can be achieved.
Drawing from the success of Fallout: New Vegas, which was built on the foundation of Fallout 3 in under two years and at a modest budget of $8 million, Obsidian’s CEO Feargus Urquhart stated, “We don’t need to change everything every time.” In a conversation with Bloomberg, he reflected on internal debates about the necessity of investing significant effort into features like the inventory screen. This approach notably echoes the studio’s debut game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, which also leveraged existing technology for rapid development. Both titles are fondly regarded for their rich systems and compelling storytelling, though each faced significant technical hiccups at launch.
While Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 weren’t considered complete failures, Obsidian recognizes that releasing multiple titles in a single year can be challenging. It seems the studio is searching for a balanced route forward. Recently, during a DICE presentation, Justin Britch and Marcus Morgan—who are set to succeed Urquhart—proposed that the key lies in retaining staff, preventing unsustainable growth, and focusing on creating more games that aim for moderate success instead of lofty, industry-defining goals. “You need to keep having at-bats,” Morgan pointed out, “because at some point, if you can consistently make good stuff, you’ll get those breakout hits.”
In the backdrop, Microsoft, captivated by the potential of AI, is reportedly pushing its Xbox studios to pursue a daunting 30% profit margin. However, Obsidian hopes that hits like Pentiment, while not colossal blockbusters, manage to satisfy Microsoft’s profitability standards—even if Urquhart hesitates, noting, “maybe where we are going to be from a profitability standpoint isn’t going to be 30%.”
At present, Obsidian has plenty on its plate, including ongoing development for Grounded 2, several original projects, and the possibility of new games in the worlds of Pillars of Eternity and Avowed. As for The Outer Worlds 3, it’s currently not in the pipeline, with the studio evaluating the feedback from this year’s releases to ensure they’re on the right track—even if that means revisiting decisions like implementing a full-fledged crime system in Avowed.
In the end, “Our job, all of us here, is to go make games that people want to play and buy,” concludes Urquhart, “and if we continue to do that, then we have a solid business.” Obsidian has indeed been responsible for some of the most memorable RPGs in gaming history.