Thoughts on Microsoft Purchasing Oblivion Entertainment?

So, earlier this month Obsidian Entertainment (known for Pillars of Eternity, Fall-Out Las Vegas, Neverwinter Nights II among many others) released a video confirming what's been buzzing about since last year; that they will become part of the "Microsoft Family"

While they'll now have the support of a parent company with very deep pockets who has been able to perpetuate some of the longest lasting and/or popular game franchises ever (e.g. Halo, Minecraft, Forza motorsports to name a few) could it mean a shift in Obsidian's style of RPG's?

Just curious what the community's thoughts are on this.

TM

I see a couple of possibilities. I'd certainly welcome continued support for those older games. But knowing Microsoft, it will be a shift in style to whatever makes them the most money. Which is fine if the games are well crafted and appeal to the masses. We'll see, I guess.

I worry about dilution of quality. So many of the truly stellar games I've played have been the work of smaller studios (I'm thinking about games like the first Witcher and Gothic 1). But I suppose everything changes, and with the right talent on board deep pockets might be a good thing.

There are a couple game development companies that have had complex relationships with Microsoft. I'm thinking of Bungie, which originated Halo and later split off from Microsoft to become independent again, only to eventually sign with Activision (Sony) for the production of their MMO Destiny.

Then of course there's the interesting ride that Lionhead Studio went on with Microsoft and the release of Fable. Ultimately, it was Microsoft's decision to close Lionhead due to the lack of success of the Fable follow-ups. I don't necessarily see that happening with Obsidian, since they are much broader and diverse in their development capabilities than Lionhead was. It does make me wonder if Obsidian will be able to pursue some projects independent of the Microsoft bean-counters. They seem very capable of having many irons in the fire at once.

I see the possibility of Obsidian making an Xbox exclusive.