00:00Rejoice people, for I have some very interesting news to share with you today.
00:04Because apparently, according to this article, Obsidian Entertainment cancels a WoW sequel
00:09and starts to work on Fallout title amid layoffs.
00:13And if this report is accurate, I think there are three separate stories here
00:17and it's important not to lump them together.
00:19The first one is cancelling an WoW sequel.
00:22And that's probably because it didn't become the breakout hit Microsoft probably wanted.
00:27I mean, let's be real here.
00:28If you play that game, that can never be a hit.
00:32Not in a million years.
00:34And to be honest, this news is amazing because a WoW was very fucking bad.
00:39I mean, yes, it reviewed reasonably well.
00:42At least when we are talking about mainstream critics.
00:46But for people like you and me, especially when you think about it's coming from Obsidian,
00:51it was a very lackluster experience.
00:54And I'm being generous here.
00:56So, I guess for Microsoft, it didn't create a kind of cultural impact that makes executives
01:01immediately greenlight a long franchise.
01:04So, even if development was going well, that's not the only thing executives look at.
01:09They are probably asking questions like, will it sell enough?
01:13Spoiler alert, it won't.
01:14Is this the best use of 200 to 300 developers?
01:18Absolutely fucking not.
01:19And does it strengthen Xbox's portfolio?
01:23And I'll give you the answer right away.
01:25No, it doesn't.
01:26So, as you might have guessed, it's not going to do any of these things good, especially if
01:31you compare it to Fallout.
01:33And then, from a business standpoint, the decision makes sense.
01:36I mean, this would have been even more obvious if one of these Xbox people actually plays
01:42whatever the hell they put on the Xbox store, and they would axe this thing immediately.
01:47But, for some strange reason, a WoW 2 was still a thing.
01:52Well, not anymore.
01:53Or at least, not to a degree that was reported previously.
01:57Because, what's interesting is that the article says some developers remain assigned to a WoW-ed
02:03related work while waiting for Fallout to ramp up.
02:06Now, I don't know about you guys, but if I was the Xbox executive, I would scrap a WoW-ed
02:12related work, or whatever the hell that means, immediately, and shift everyone to new Fallout
02:18project.
02:19But, sadly, or for better or for worse, I'm not one, so it seems that Microsoft isn't
02:24necessarily killing the IP forever, and maybe they're just simply putting it on a shelf.
02:29And, who knows, maybe they'll take the shelf away and just burn it to the ground.
02:33Because that would be the best possible solution ever.
02:35Now, Fallout is the obvious franchise to prioritize, because Fallout is simply worth more.
02:41And, not to mention, Fallout franchise, at least in Microsoft's hands, was basically collecting
02:46dust somewhere in the Microsoft basements on some forgotten shelf.
02:50And, we need to take one thing into account, which is, after the TV series, Fallout has
02:55arguably become Bethesda's hottest IP.
02:58You have Fallout 4 experiencing a huge resurgence.
03:02And, obviously, it is, because there isn't anything else Fallout related to play, at least
03:07when we are talking about single player games.
03:09Then, you have Fallout 76, that has been apparently healthier than many expected.
03:14And, that's a game I will never play, because not only it launched in a horrible state, and
03:21that's always gonna make a mark in my psyche, but more importantly, that game is a festering
03:27pile of microtransaction hell.
03:30And, my hands are never going to touch that.
03:33But, yeah, the TV show introduced millions of new fans to the Fallout franchise.
03:37And, Microsoft needs major exclusive franchises.
03:40So, if Xbox is trying to recover from layoffs, studio closures, and disappointing hardware
03:46sales, betting on Fallout is one of the safest moves they can make.
03:50And, let's be honest, from a purely financial perspective, I would invest in Fallout before
03:55allowed every single time.
03:57However, this new Fallout thing, it's not that simple, because I am not convinced Obsidian is
04:04the right Obsidian anymore.
04:05You see, whenever people hear Obsidian making Fallout, they immediately think of Fallout New
04:11Vegas.
04:12And, I talked about this topic in one of my previous videos, you can go check it out if
04:16you wanna.
04:16But, the point here is that the studio that made New Vegas in 2010 is not the same studio
04:22anymore.
04:23Many of the people who define New Vegas has left over the years.
04:26And, the leadership, designers, writers, and overall development culture has changed significantly.
04:32And, that's why I think people should manage their expectations.
04:37Because, if you expect New Vegas too, I think you might be setting yourself up for disappointment.
04:43And, trust me, I wouldn't say this.
04:45But, when I take into consideration what kind of games Obsidian produced so far, I think this
04:51advice is extremely well placed.
04:54But, wait.
04:55There is more.
04:56Because, John Sawyer might change the equation, and he might be the biggest reason for optimism.
05:02You see, John Sawyer directed New Vegas, and has consistently shown he understands what makes
05:08Fallout compelling.
05:09He's also been behind projects like Pentiman, which demonstrated that he still excels at player
05:14choice, writing, and RPG systems, even on a smaller budget.
05:18So, if he's genuinely leading the Fallout project, that's about as reassuring as this report gets.
05:24Problem is, he has one big challenge, and that is that one director cannot recreate the entire
05:30New Vegas team.
05:31Which brings me to the final point of this report, and that is that the layouts are worrying
05:36me more than the game announcement.
05:39Because, when you lay off roughly a quarter of studio, while simultaneously starting a massive
05:44RPG, well, there's no other way to say it.
05:47It's concerning.
05:48Because, large RPGs benefit from continuity, and losing experienced developers can mean several
05:54things.
05:55For example, the institutional knowledge disappear.
05:57Then you have onboarding for new people.
05:59That can take time.
06:00Which then means that production will slow.
06:03And, when that happens, and you're not hitting your goals, morale often takes a hit.
06:08Now, it is possible the layouts were targeted at council projects rather than the Fallout team,
06:13but it still introduces risk.
06:16Overall, I would say, I think this is a rational business decision.
06:20And I'm purely speaking about a Vought being axed.
06:23Because, if Microsoft asked me whether to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on another
06:28Vought or a new Fallout, I would pick Fallout every single time.
06:33However, I also think many fans are romanticizing what this means.
06:37And, I will say again, and again, and again, this isn't the 2010 Obsidian returning to make
06:44New Vegas.
06:45It's a different studio, under different management, working with Xbox's current corporate structure.
06:50Obviously, that doesn't mean the game cannot be great, because there is potential there,
06:55especially with John Stoyer's involvement.
06:57However, I wouldn't assume this automatically guarantees another good game.
07:03And, you know what's also funny?
07:05Ironically, this news also reinforces a point I already raised before in one of my previous
07:11videos.
07:12Obsidian, as a name, isn't enough anymore.
07:15The quality of recent releases like Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 has led me to question
07:21whether the studio still consistently can deliver genre-defining RPGs.
07:26And if this Fallout project succeeds, it will likely be because of the theme and creative
07:32direction behind it, not simply because the logo says Obsidian.
07:37And that's basically my take on this news.
07:39Thanks very much for watching.
07:40And as always, like, share, subscribe, comment, all that good stuff.
07:45And that's it from me.
07:46Until the next one.
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