During its X018 fan event in Mexico, Microsoft announced the acquisition of two game developers, Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment.
Obsidian Entertainment has had a hand in creating some well-received and beloved RPGs such as Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2. Meanwhile, inXile Entertainment has found success with crowdfunding through its Wasteland series.
With the acquisition going through, it’s likely these premiere role-playing-game studios will begin developing games exclusively for Microsoft’s PC and Xbox One platforms.
However, Microsoft stated at the show that these studios will remain independent despite the purchase. Whether this means that they will continue to develop for other platforms remains to be seen.
“As part of Microsoft Studios, Obsidian and inXile will have the support and freedom to fully realize their creative ambitions on both existing franchises and new RPG projects,” the company said.
The Obsidian and inXile acquisitions represent some amongst many purchases Microsoft has been doing lately. At E3 2018, the publisher announced that it would acquire Hellblade developer Ninja Theory, Forza developer PlayGround Games, State of Decay developer Undead Labs, and We Happy Few developer Compulsion Games. These acquisitions serve to bolster Microsoft’s portfolio of exclusive IP, which has been lagging compared to main competitors Sony and Nintendo.
With this news, the total number of studios under Microsoft has climbed up to thirteen total.
