Private | |
Industry | Video game development |
Founded | June 12, 2003 |
Founders |
Feargus Urquhart Chris Parker Chris Avellone Darren Monahan Chris Jones |
Headquarters | Irvine, California, United States |
Products |
Video games Interactive entertainment |
Website | www |
Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer whose corporate headquarters is located in Irvine, California. It was founded in 2003 by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Parker, Darren Monahan, and Chris Jones after the closure of Black Isle Studios.
Although they have created original intellectual property, many of their games are sequels based on licensed properties. Early projects include Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2, both sequels to BioWare-developed games. The team then developed their first original game, , in 2010. It was met with generally mixed reviews. Other notable works from Obsidian include Fallout: New Vegas, Dungeon Siege III, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, all also licensed properties.
Throughout the studio's history, many projects—including Futureblight, Dwarves, Aliens: Crucible, and Stormlands—were cancelled. Due to having so many projects cancelled, the company entered a severe financial crisis in 2012. As a result, Obsidian decided to crowdfund their next game, Pillars of Eternity, a role-playing game played from an isometric perspective, which ultimately became a success and saved the studio from closure. The team's focus then changed from developing licensed titles to creating original games based on the studio's own intellectual property. Obsidian has developed a close relationship with another studio that was founded by ex-Interplay Entertainment employees, inXile Entertainment. The company's latest games are Tyranny, a role-playing game set in a world where the war between good and evil has been fought with evil coming out on top, and Armored Warfare, a massively multiplayer online game with a focus on controlling tanks.