Obsidian Hiring for a "Unique" Next-Gen Game

[Cognimancer]

Obsidian Hiring for a "Unique" Next-Gen Game

The creators of New Vegas may have something new in store.

Obsidian Entertainment has an interesting position in the games industry. Some of its most successful games, like Knights of the Old Republic II and Fallout: New Vegas, are follow-ups to other studios' groundbreaking games, which the folks at Obsidian adapt and refine into worthy sequels. That's why the studio has turned a few heads with a new job listing for a "unique next generation game." It's only a blip on the radar for now, but we may be seeing something fresh from the acclaimed RPG studio.

The Obsidian website lists two open positions specifically related to next-gen development: a Level Designer and a UI/User Experience Artist. The level designer will be responsible for "planning and populating missions/quests, scripted sequences, encounters, challenges and rewards." Experience with working on role playing games is listed as a plus. It's pretty safe to assume, then, that whatever next-gen project Obsidian has brewing won't be straying far from the studio's RPG roots.

The big question here is what makes this next-gen game "unique." Is the company bringing on new talent to forge a new IP? To date, the only game Obsidian has developed that wasn't part of a pre-existing franchise was Alpha Protocol, which had a lackluster reception despite becoming an underground cult classic. Obsidian has previously expressed interest in pitching a sequel to Fallout: New Vegas [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123180-Obsidian-Would-Love-to-Pitch-a-New-Star-Wars-Game-To-Disney], but neither of those options are looking very likely at the moment due to uncertainties about the next generation of consoles.

It could be argued that the unannounced game could be an older franchise with unique next-gen gameplay or technology, but it's far too early to make any substantial guesses. Obsidian has a reputation for flawed masterpieces - most of its games have been plagued by bugs, glitches, and cut content - so whatever game they produce runs the risk of worsening these problems with unfamiliar hardware issues. Still, keep your eyes peeled for news from the studio. Whatever they're doing, it's probably going to be big.

Source: Obsidian [http://www.obsidian.net/jobs/open-positions/design/638-level-designer]

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[SSJBlastoise]

Dammit, go to read the news before bed and see this article so I click it and see a KOTOR 2 photo and suddenly get excited about the possibility of a new KOTOR game. I know it wont happen but I really wish it would.

 

[Baldr]

I'm betting Ubisoft wants Obsidian to put Stick of Truth on Next-Gen

 

[Nicolairigel]

Definitely looking forward to a new game from obsidian, Kotor 2 and FO: NV have some of the best writing I've seen in gaming (especially the DLCs, I mean, Dead Money is just a pure masterpiece). Hopefully this one won't be let down too hard on the technical side.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Alpha Protocol was excellent. Just that people bought it thinking it was an FPS. It wasnt. It was about discussion and how you talk to the people in the game. So yeah, the shooting segments were sucky. But the talking segments in how you treat others by going through the intel you collected was great.

New Vegas was awesome, loved the characters and plot and the choice given in how you complete the game. KOTOR2 was great fun, loved the story and the talking though i think they never finished it properly. A new original IP would be great.

 

[BrotherRool]

The only game that Obsidian have put out that didn't instantly become an all time favourite upon playing, is Dungeon Siege III, so I'm looking forward to this one although for people looking for more polished experiences, with the next gen, I imagine this game will be particularly bad

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

It's Obsidian, so I'm hyped. But I want an Alpha Protocol spiritual successor so badly.

 

[Parakeettheprawn]

Dammit, go to read the news before bed and see this article so I click it and see a KOTOR 2 photo and suddenly get excited about the possibility of a new KOTOR game. I know it wont happen but I really wish it would.

That photo about summarizes me feelings whenever anything related to Obsidian happens. I really hope this pans out though, they're a great bunch of storytellers with gameplay chops to boot.

 

[Gabanuka]

Don't they have a $4,163,208 game to be working on? I know developers have multiple projects but it seems weird starting a new thing now.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I now await the inevitable "Obsidian sux they make shitty gamez don't let them do this!" posts that are about as common these days as EA trashing.

I wish them good luck in whatever endeavors they have planned for the next gen. So long as it will run on my PC.

 

[IronMit]

Alpha Protocol was excellent. Just that people bought it thinking it was an FPS. It wasnt. It was about discussion and how you talk to the people in the game. So yeah, the shooting segments were sucky. But the talking segments in how you treat others by going through the intel you collected was great.

The problem is the shooting action segments are part of the discussion bits. NPC's react to what you do in a mission and how you do it. So when you are stealthing it up and you simply turn invisible to walk through semi linear levels and take out guards who's bodies disappear but then reappear at checkpoints....it kind of ruins the whole payoff and reward for a certain play style.

So much promise, I really wanted to see where the story was going and how my decisions and attitude affected stuff but at the half way point I couldn't bare the action portions anymore.

 

[JPArbiter]

no amount of Narrative Brilliance in the DLCs could ever make me want to let Obsidian touch the fallout franchise again. not after the bug fest that was it's initial console release.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I now await the inevitable "Obsidian sux they make shitty gamez don't let them do this!" posts that are about as common these days as EA trashing.

I wish them good luck in whatever endeavors they have planned for the next gen. So long as it will run on my PC.

whew, you snuck that in there just in time, i was a bit late to the punch

It's Obsidian, so I'm hyped. But I want an Alpha Protocol spiritual successor so badly.

please dont put that thought in my head, it might just kill me to never have it happen.

OT: this is good news and all but they seem to have alot of other stuff on their hands already, so hopefully whatever they are undertaking for this happens after all those other projects are well on their way.

*looking forward to obsidian golden age of games*

 

[fix-the-spade]

Dammit, go to read the news before bed and see this article so I click it and see a KOTOR 2 photo and suddenly get excited about the possibility of a new KOTOR game. I know it wont happen but I really wish it would.

Sadly, EA and Bioware have already decreed that The Old Republic is KoTOR 3, 4, 5 and all future possibilities, so KoTOR 3 and not rubbish can sadly never be said in the same sentence again.

I wonder what Obsidian are up to, I still hope in my heart for a proper, not crap KoTOR 3, but it'll likely be something else.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Really, what EA and Bioware say doesn't mean shit if Disney feels that more money can be gained from a true KOTOR 3. I doubt they will, but they've already said they aren't particularly interested in maintaining the EU canon, so who knows?

It means that 'The Old Republic 3' monicker is attached to a colossal bomb, so if it ever comes up in a Dark Fortress board meeting, they'll assume there's no market for it, because suits are stupid like that.

 

[sid]

Er, project eternity is a new IP, Obsidian made it pretty clear that they would be all hands on deck about it, ergo it's a job opening for Project Eternity, what else?

 

[Ishal]

Really, what EA and Bioware say doesn't mean shit if Disney feels that more money can be gained from a true KOTOR 3. I doubt they will, but they've already said they aren't particularly interested in maintaining the EU canon, so who knows?

It means that 'The Old Republic 3' monicker is attached to a colossal bomb, so if it ever comes up in a Dark Fortress board meeting, they'll assume there's no market for it, because suits are stupid like that.

Well it's "The Old Republic" and "Knights of the Old Republic". Not much of a distinction, but there might be enough that the bean counters can see them as separate entities. Making a single player game is a wildly different endeavor than an MMO. Hopefully they'll see the branding wasn't the issue as much as the game itself (That and it's simply absurdly high budget).

If anything I hope they'll see that chasing the MMO pipe dream is a worthless endeavor bound to fail.

I honestly doubt Disney is too concerned with gaming right now. They might start a few projects here and there but their big focus is going to be on the movies. They plan on having a new Star Wars film out every year following the release of the next trilogy. But that largely depends on the continued success of their Marvel Studios and the reaction to the new Star Wars stuff.

Also, another thing, if those movies do succeed and they turn around to find a console "crash" that wouldn't be too good. Now, I hope thats not the case. I hope that they'll call Avellone in and he'll pitch them something that makes their eyes turn to dollar signs. If they want to license the IP out Obsidian has a pretty good track record, so there is room to hope in the future at least.