Obsidian Hit with Layoffs; Future Next-Gen Title Canned, South Park Team is Also Affected

[Shawn Zipay]

It's been reported by Joystiq that Obsidian Entertainment (Fallout: New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2) has laid off an undisclosed number of staff. These reports started to come in from keen observers on the Obsidian.net forums who noted Twitter updates and job updates on LinkedIn.

Andre Nguyen: "Fellow Obsidianites who were laid off today...I was lucky, but I've been on the other end of that. Your talents will take you far! #keepgoin"

Some known layoffs include former world builders, level designers, character artists, UI artists, lead programmer Frank Kowalkowski (NWN2 and New Vegas lead programmer), and plenty of others. It is believed that at least 20 staff have been let go, with higher estimates in the 30s.

It is rumored that the next-generation title, North Carolina, has been cancelled as a result. In addition, South Park: The Game staff have also been laid off and the status of that project seems to be up in the air. In a response to an inquiry by Joystiq, Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart stated that the company does not comment on stories regarding staff.

These lay-offs come less than a year after staff were also let go from Obsidian in 2011. Good luck to all employees that are impacted by this.

[Stev0esque]

Re: Obsidian Hit with Layoffs; Future Next-Gen Title Canned, South Park Team is Also Affected

Oh no! I actually like Obsidian. For their buggy games and their denial of QA testing by companies like bethesda they sure put out well written and well inspired games. I hope things will be better for them soon too. New Vegas is still my most played game on Steam.