Obsidian Entertainment

Obsidian Entertainment is an American game developer known for narrative-driven role-playing games built around player choice, branching dialogue, deep world-building and consequential systems. Founded in 2003 by veterans of Black Isle Studios, the studio has developed both licensed projects and original properties across PC and console platforms.

Its early releases included Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2, followed by games such as Alpha Protocol, Fallout: New Vegas, Dungeon Siege III, and South Park: The Stick of Truth. These projects established a body of work spanning party-based RPGs, action RPGs, licensed adaptations and original interactive worlds.

Original worlds and evolving formats

The studio expanded its original portfolio with the crowdfunded Pillars of Eternity, which introduced the Eora setting and was followed by Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Later releases have explored different forms of role-playing and player-led storytelling, including Tyranny, The Outer Worlds, the historical narrative adventure Pentiment, and Avowed.

Obsidian also develops games beyond its traditional RPG formats. Grounded brought cooperative survival-crafting gameplay to a backyard-scale setting, while the studio continues work across multiple development tracks, including The Outer Worlds 2 and Grounded 2.

Development capabilities

• Full-cycle game development and creative direction
• Narrative design, scriptwriting, world-building and environmental storytelling
• Systems, level and combat design
• 3D art, concept art, character modeling and animation
• Audio engineering, technical QA and post-launch live-game operations
• Proprietary Onyx engine development alongside Unreal Engine and Unity implementation

Acquired by Microsoft in November 2018, Obsidian remains an active studio within Microsoft Gaming and Xbox Game Studios. Its work continues to center on authored worlds, role-playing systems and games designed to give players meaningful agency over how stories and encounters unfold.