Obsidian still have "the same DNA" that went into New Vegas and KOTOR 2, The Outer Worlds 2 director insists, following chatter around layoffs

"I'm extremely proud of our history and I am also excited for who we have become"

Last week, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 developers Obsidian lost around quarter of their staff to Microsoft's mass layoffs. The studio were subsequently reported to be pivoting to start work on a new Fallout game helmed by New Vegas director Josh Sawyer, with a sequel to Avowed all but canned in the process. Cue, naturally, people like me discussing what sort of game the shift towards a new Fallout all these years after New Vegas could result in, and also some voices declaring that Obsidian just aren't as good as they used to be.

Outer Worlds 2 director Brandon Adler, naturally, disagrees with the latter group of loudmouths.

"This has been an extremely difficult week at Obsidian," Adler wrote in LinkedIn, as spotted by Eurogamer. "Not only have I had to say goodbye to some amazing game developers, but I've had to say goodbye to some of my best friends. I truly feel for every one of them. Know that if you are looking to hire one of these former Obsidian devs, you are hiring some of the best people around - both professionally and personally.

"Another difficult aspect is having to see a bunch of cold take artists coming out of the woodwork to talk about what Obsidian is or what it isn't," he continued. "The number of times I've seen people, with no understanding of who has worked on our previous games or what they contributed, talk about how Obsidian isn't who they used to be... is staggering...In most circumstances, the people in lead or director roles are the same people that worked on games like The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, and New Vegas. Like, literally the same people. The through line from KotOR2 to our current games is pretty clear."

Adler, who's worked at Obsidian since 2006 aside from a year or so away developing mobile games, emphasised that he's not saying nothing has changed since those early games, but that the ethos at the studio can still be traced back to them. "Is Obsidian the same as it was 20 years ago? No, of course not. Nothing stays the same," he wrote. "But the DNA at Obsidian is the same as it always was. The same DNA that created KotOR, New Vegas, NWN2, and Stick of Truth. I'm extremely proud of our history and I am also excited for who we have become."

As much as Obsidian's recent RPG work on Avowed and The Outer Worlds hasn't been perfect, especially if you're comparing it to a lofty mesuring stick like New Vegas, I've never felt while playing them that they aren't deeply Obsidiany games and at the very least solidly good times. Every studio are only ever seen as being as good as their last game, a phenomenon which can be as much of an issue for those coming off runaway successes which can beget unreasonable future expectations as it is for studios judged to be adrift of past glories. Often, there can also be a rose-tinted lens being applied to the older stuff to make it shine that much brighter than the new.

Regardless, I can only hope that Adler and co have been able to see as many supportive posts about their work as they have cold takes, given how much painful upheaval they went through last week.