Some rather interesting news here, both Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment (source) have now officially joined Microsoft.
Together, they've made some pretty interesting Linux games such as Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Tyranny, Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep and more to come.
Microsoft have been picking up quite a number of studios lately including Ninja theory, Compulsion Games, Undead Labs and also Playground Games so they're continuing to bolster their forces. They're facing huge competition in the console market, so it's likely to help with that more than anything.
News that I am sure will shock some Linux gamers, that's two pretty big studios that have been putting out games for Linux now under the roof of Microsoft. That's a little worrying, but it doesn't mean they will suddenly stop having Linux ports of their games. However, it does make Linux ports of their games slightly less likely I would think. As long as both studios retain a certain amount of freedom, I think we should be okay for future titles. Microsoft loves Linux after all…right?
I have to be honest, I'm a little in shock myself at this news.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
slaapliedje Nov 11, 2018
I do not see anything good coming out of this. Seems a large check was passed to these two and the thought of not needing to crowdfund everything was too much of a draw than being able to do what they want to do for the fans.
As far as the delay for BT4, I just tried it on Windows for a tiny bit to show a friend of mine who is a long time fan of the series, and it crashed almost right away. Seems rather unstable even on Windows, hopefully the Linux version is less crash happy.
rustybroomhandle Nov 11, 2018
TheLinuxPleb Nov 11, 2018
I do not fully expect them to cancel the linux versions of games they already announced with linux support, though it wouldn't surprise me, either.
On-topic, I'm just disappointed. I guess that's the punishment for me saying that I'm ready for thousands more games like Pillars of Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera. Now they'll exist, but won't run on Linux. Haha, how ironic.
--edited to make my statement more clear--
Last edited by logge on 11 November 2018 at 8:19 am UTC
soulsource Nov 11, 2018
The keyword here is "exclusive".
Quoting: soulsourcequote=[https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2018/11/10/obsidian-inxile-join-microsoft-studios/]As part of our commitment to bringing a steady stream of new, exclusive games to our fans, I’m excited to announce Microsoft’s intent to acquire two new game development studios – Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment.
The keyword here is "exclusive".[/quote]
Very to the point. MS aren't even trying to hide their trash approach.
QuoteWe’re focused on implementing new Microsoft technologies, delivering content for new platforms and services like Xbox Game Pass, and creating exclusive games that turn players into loyal Xbox fans.
Good bye inXile and Obsidian, you were good while you were independent.
Last edited by Shmerl on 11 November 2018 at 8:33 am UTC
Quoting: Guest... These companies also only make games that wouldn't benefit at all from using apis like dx12 or vulkan, they're just not that graphically intense.
I'm not seeing their plan here, I'm not seeing a lot of their plans these days and it makes me a little nervous.
That doesn't mean they won't use DX12, vendor-lock is powerful incentive for MS.
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