Obsidian Entertainment: A Studio In Permanent Decline?

Microsoft cut 3,200 jobs from its gaming division. Obsidian lost a quarter of its studio, Avowed 2 was cancelled two days later, and most of the coverage is treating this as an unexcpected tragedy. But Pillars of Eternity 2 flopped in 2018, months before Microsoft bought anyone. Almost every Obsidian title since underperformed. The one franchise that keeps working is the survival game with almost no writing in it. Whatever is rotting at Obsidian predates the corporate parent, and the games have been telling you so for years, you just had to look at them without rose tinted glasses. Timestamps: 00:00 A quarter of Obsidian is gone 01:21 The comfortable explanation is wrong 02:52 The care didn't die, it shifted 05:59 Obsidian doesn´t care about the settings 08:56 The milieu 13:41 Funded for the many, made for the few