"The DNA of Obsidian Remains the Same" — A Studio Veteran Takes on Those Who Are Writing it Off After the Layoffs

"Obsidian's DNA Remains the Same" — Studio Veteran Responds to Those Writing It Off After Layoffs

Obsidian Entertainment is among the XBOX teams that took a heavy hit in the recent round of cuts. California filings indicate Obsidian let go of 50+ people — roughly a quarter of the studio (i.e., ~50 ppl). Brandon Adler, a long-time studio hand and the game director on an unannounced project, posted a plainly emotional message to coworkers — and also aimed a reply at the chatter saying the studio has somehow lost its spark.

Adler didn't sugarcoat it: he described having to say goodbye to folks he called friends, and he expressed real regret for each person affected. The loss felt personal, not just procedural.

He added that the week’s sting was amplified by outsiders "crawling out of every hole" to opine without context — throwing around the idea that Obsidian has lost its identity while sharing a lot of misinformation.

It’s wild how many people, who have no clue who actually worked on our games or what they did, feel confident claiming that "Obsidian isn’t what it used to be anymore." Most of those takes are flat wrong and, frankly, full of misinformation.

In many cases, the folks now steering projects are the same people who worked on The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, and New Vegas. Literally the same. You can trace the throughline from KotOR2 to what we’re doing now with the naked eye.

Brandon Adler

He allowed that two decades necessarily bring change — that’s life in a studio, with people coming and going — but insisted that "Obsidian’s DNA remains the same," the very thread behind KotOR, New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2, and Stick of Truth. He sounded proud of the past and uneasy about the sloppy narratives forming in its wake.

FYI, earlier this year Feargus Urquhart told Bloomberg that Grounded 2 did very well for the studio, while neither The Outer Worlds 2 nor Avowed hit the sales marks expected. The team had been eyeing an Avowed sequel, but, per Jason Schreier, a reshuffle at XBOX changed plans and attention shifted to the new Fallout.