Rather quietly, Fallout: New Vegas and Dungeon Siege III developer Obsidian Entertainment laid off an unspecified number of staff last week. 

Since finishing Fallout: New Vegas, Obsidian has continued to work with Bethesda Softworks on downloadable content for the title. It's likely the summer-bound Dungeon Siege III is nearing completion, so while layoffs are always unfortunate news, it's commonplace as projects begin to wrap up. 

As initially noticed by Gamasutra, the Obsidian message boards have collected farewells, sign-offs and goodbyes from some developers affected by changes.

Rather quietly, Fallout: New Vegas and Dungeon Siege III developer Obsidian Entertainment laid off an unspecified number of staff last week. 

Since finishing Fallout: New Vegas, Obsidian has continued to work with Bethesda Softworks on downloadable content for the title. It's likely the summer-bound Dungeon Siege III is nearing completion, so while layoffs are always unfortunate news, it's commonplace as projects begin to wrap up. 

As initially noticed by Gamasutra, the Obsidian message boards have collected farewells, sign-offs and goodbyes from some developers affected by changes.

what

Really sucks for people to be laid off.

that sucks for them.  New Vegas was actually a pretty good Obsidian game.   

This is really surprising. Alpha Protocol flopped but I was under the impression that Fallout New Vegas has done really well. Also, they have a slew of projects in the pipeline. 

well, it doesn't seem as nefarious as Activision...

NOOOO!!!!They could have made the BEST Fallout ever if they teamed up with Bethesda!Bethesda could of made the tech and basic gameplay, and Obsidian would do the factions and deeper gameplay mechanics as well as balancing.They could work on the story together come on this would be sooo good.Bethesda can't make F4 on it's own!I mean once I saw New Vegas I was happy to see how much better Fallout 3 could have been gameplay and story wise.

Too bad.  New Vegas was fantastic.  Much better than Fallout 3.  I wish it had better DLC.

Well, they released KOTOR 2 and it was an okay game.
Then they released Neverwinter Nights 2 and it was a horrible game.
Then they released Alpha Protocol and it was a horrible game.
Then they released Fallout New Vegas and it was a horrible game.

I gotta say, I kinda saw this coming.

Bummer.   :(

Not a big surprise here. 

As much as I hate Obsidian, this is sad news. 
I don't like people losing their jobs :(

" Well, they released KOTOR 2 and it was an okay game.Then they released Neverwinter Nights 2 and it was a horrible game.Then they released Alpha Protocol and it was a horrible game.Then they released Fallout New Vegas and it was a horrible game.I gotta say, I kinda saw this coming. "

It sucks to be laid off but I'm happy that something bad is happening to Obsidian, I mean they just keep pumping out one piece of shit out after another - it has to stop. KOTOR 2, NWN2, New Vegas, just one shitty sequel after the other, and then Alpha Protocol too. Let the big boys handle the sequels, thank you very much.

fallout new vegas was awesome, that really sucks. delta_ass is crazy

" Well, they released KOTOR 2 and it was an okay game.Then they released Neverwinter Nights 2 and it was a horrible game.Then they released Alpha Protocol and it was a horrible game.Then they released Fallout New Vegas and it was a horrible game.I gotta say, I kinda saw this coming. "

Patrick, the news hunter.

I love Obsidian so this saddens me deeply..

Sorry for those folks.  Surely they'll land on their feet somewhere.

Can anyone tell me were all the bugs and kinks finally ironed out from New Vegas??  That game had a lot of potential, but I had to stop due to all kinds of issues.

Feel sorry for the employee's, but what downloadable content for Fallout? After Dead money there's been a massive void in downloable content for Fallout and nothing in near future. It's abit of a joke

It's never fun to hear about lay offs. I liked New Vegas and Alpha Protocol ;<

" Well, they released KOTOR 2 and it was an great game.

Then they released Neverwinter Nights 2 and it was an ok game.

Then they released Alpha Protocol and it was a horrible game.

Then they released Fallout New Vegas and it was a fuck ton better then Fallout 3.

I gotta say, I kinda saw this coming. "

Thats a bummer, their games at least try to break molds and its great to see console RPGs that don't always play by the rules. 

Sucks for the people being laid off, but I think it's clear Obsidian needs to get their shit together.

A bummer, but inevitable.  With New Vegas behind them, I understand that they have to get leaner.  Hell, after the Aliens RPG was cancelled and Alpha Protocol bombed hard, getting contracted for New Vegas is probably the only reason the company still exists.  I hope to see these guys rebuild in the next few years.

Layoffs are never good but they made some solid games.

" Feel sorry for the employee's, but what downloadable content for Fallout? After Dead money there's been a massive void in downloable content for Fallout and nothing in near future. It's abit of a joke "

Always makes me sad hearing all the hate for Obsidian, even it is deserved, because I still associate them with Black Isle. There's always this moment of confusion where I think "hey! Those guys made some of my favorite games ever!" And then I realize they didn't, at least not as Obsidian. I really applaud them for trying new things though, I hope one day they can surprise us all with an original IP that's innovative and polished.

" Well, they released KOTOR 2 and it was an okay game.Then they released Neverwinter Nights 2 and it was a horrible game.Then they released Alpha Protocol and it was a horrible game.Then they released Fallout New Vegas and it was a horrible game.I gotta say, I kinda saw this coming. "

" @simonsays said:

" Feel sorry for the employee's, but what downloadable content for Fallout? After Dead money there's been a massive void in downloable content for Fallout and nothing in near future. It's abit of a joke "

Yup. And Dead Money fuckin' sucked too. "

" Well, they released KOTOR 2 and it was an okay game.Then they released Neverwinter Nights 2 and it was a horrible game.Then they released Alpha Protocol and it was a horrible game.Then they released Fallout New Vegas and it was a horrible game.I gotta say, I kinda saw this coming. "

"Quality assurance tester..."

nuff said


but still people losing jobs is never a good thing, hope they get back on their feet soon.

*deleted*

Trying to understand what universe I'm living in where F:NV is considered bad and FO3 is good.

Speaking of Dead Money, was that ever released for PC? I gave up checking after the first couple of months, and just uninstalled FNV 'cuz I needed the SSD harddrive space.

" "Quality assurance tester..."nuff saidbut still people losing jobs is never a good thing, hope they get back on their feet soon. "

" @blacklabeldomm said:

" "Quality assurance tester..."nuff saidbut still people losing jobs is never a good thing, hope they get back on their feet soon. "

one day people will learn that obsidian does not do much of it's own testing, the publishers do. "

:(  I loved New Vegas and Kotor 2

" Speaking of Dead Money, was that ever released for PC? I gave up checking after the first couple of months, and just uninstalled FNV 'cuz I needed the SSD harddrive space. "

" @blacklabeldomm said:

" "Quality assurance tester..."nuff saidbut still people losing jobs is never a good thing, hope they get back on their feet soon. "

one day people will learn that obsidian does not do much of it's own testing, the publishers do.also this is mad sad :( "

" @Laketown said:

" @blacklabeldomm said:

" "Quality assurance tester..."nuff saidbut still people losing jobs is never a good thing, hope they get back on their feet soon. "

one day people will learn that obsidian does not do much of it's own testing, the publishers do. "

Yeah and those people are like yo we can't ship this game it's crazy broken, and Zeni-max still puts the game out.  "

" @Laketown said:

" @blacklabeldomm said:

" "Quality assurance tester..."nuff saidbut still people losing jobs is never a good thing, hope they get back on their feet soon. "

one day people will learn that obsidian does not do much of it's own testing, the publishers do.also this is mad sad :( "

uhhh, then what does a "quality assurance tester" do exactly.

" @Laketown said:

" @blacklabeldomm said:

" "Quality assurance tester..."nuff saidbut still people losing jobs is never a good thing, hope they get back on their feet soon. "

one day people will learn that obsidian does not do much of it's own testing, the publishers do. "

Yeah and those people are like yo we can't ship this game it's crazy broken, and Zeni-max still puts the game out.  "

Alpha Protocol was in development for a long time and look at how that turned out, it's not just the "rushed" fallout sequel I'm talking about guys. "

I played Alpha Protocol for the first time this year and I think that game got a bad rap.  If you could get passed the original Mass Effect combat foibles you can enjoy Alpha Protocol.

Man this really sucks, I really enjoyed both Alpha Protocol and New Vegas. My thoughts go out to all those laid off.

And they still haven't announced when the next Fallout: New Vegas DLC is coming either.

Wait! Obsidian is making DS3? How had I not noticed this?

God Damn... And I was looking forward to that one after enjoying 2. It's off my list now.
These guys are the worst game dev ever from a technical standpoint. They've never released anything that wasn't a buggy mess.

I hope Bethesda buys Obsidian.

I loved Alpha Protocol; I'm sorry that wasn't a hit from them.  That said, it's always the same lack of polish/poor QA thing that tarnishes each of their games.

"

Sorry for those folks.  Surely they'll land on their feet somewhere.

Can anyone tell me were all the bugs and kinks finally ironed out from New Vegas??  That game had a lot of potential, but I had to stop due to all kinds of issues.

"

That's a bummer. Even though I think Obsidian isn't an especially amazing game developer (I think NWN 2 is alright and New Vegas is genuinely better than Fallout 3. KotOR 2 and Alpha Protocol can go die in a hole), people losing jobs is always bad. Hopefully Dungeon Siege III will do well for them, even though exactly 0% of that game interests me.

Obsidian =/= Black Isle.