Chris Avellone

Dev/Writer: Planescape Torment, #Fallout2/New Vegas, DivinityOS2, Prey, Into the Breach, #DyingLight2, Star Wars: KOTOR2 & #JediFallenOrder, Judas, Marvel.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

"This may be one of the best days of my life. Also, what reality is this again?"
- Chris Avellone, Planescape Torment

https://t.co/mMxRgwq3XK

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@Slayer__R6 @Mr_Rebs_ @aquiloniandream Some studios do it, and some appoint an art director to each project - like Obsidian. There's also an art director above that level as well for the studio, so it can be kind of confusing unless you work there and are used to it.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@Crowlesz @Zero_Omega_ZX Daniel and Matt are two different people. I can't explain it any better than that.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

Welp, Obsidian did have layoffs. Way to go, Microsoft.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

I wonder if they realize they might be shrinking their audience range at launch in exchange for $$$, but whatever. I don't have the data on that, so that's speculation.

Money talks is no surprise, but I wonder if that also affected OW2's performance (not as many people playing OW1 on release).

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@hironori_tf Just spiritually?

Also, not the lead designer or vision holder, so please direct it to the actual lead designer: Obsidian's CEO. : )

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

Wasn't OW1 also an Epic exclusive for a while? I forget.

If it was, that may also have hurt audience reach - the Epic store doesn't seem to be the best showcase of a digital marketplace, and it lacks a lot of the features Steam does so I've never used it, not even for free games. But I could be wrong in my evaluation.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

It was unfortunate that Ubisoft ended up doing the sequel, but I think there were so many problems working with Obsidian (on both sides), that they decided they could do it easier without the hassle.

Still, they'd hired some of the ex-Obsidian folks who had worked on the 1st project and had been previously let go (which is another story), so there was that.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@AwesomeUKFacts @iAmJoshuaGraham Even though I was just an animation producer, working on Stick of Truth was a lot of fun. Trey Parker is a pretty smart guy, btw, design meetings with him were a blessed difference from production meetings on other projects.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@AwesomeUKFacts @iAmJoshuaGraham Not my company, not my projects, but point taken.

https://t.co/mPagC1dNsk

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@ralco62107 I actually didn't hear about many producers (and I was asking producers). There were writers, artists, and other developers, but I don't have a full list. LinkedIn may have more, since many of them are posting for jobs there.

[Rebs Gaming @Mr_Rebs_]

Michael Maynard, who worked at id Software for 21 years, says roughly 50% of id Software employees were laid off.

Michael says, “Microsoft/XBOX decided half the team was deemed useless…such a waste for an entire team dedicated to excellence for many years…Just really sad that this is how Id Software, the PIONEER/INNOVATOR of FPS action games is relegated to just another "reorganization" of assets.” #Xbox

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@DeepMind0079 @Zero_Omega_ZX https://t.co/zLQ2FXtFro

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

That was someone else (Matt) who I have never met or worked with. You can check elsewhere on the internet.

Daniel, another art director, that was accidentally named here is almost never on social media beyond LinkedIn that I'm aware of. I don't want Daniel hammered for something he never said or did. Does that make sense?

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@hitman2b1 @aquiloniandream @Mr_Rebs_ I'm not at Obsidian and haven't been for 10+ years, but they're here on X if you want to tell them.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@GrizzKnight_ @Zero_Omega_ZX https://t.co/zLQ2FXtFro

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

That was someone else (Matt) who I have never met or worked with. You can check elsewhere on the internet.

Daniel, another art director, that was accidentally named here is almost never on social media beyond LinkedIn that I'm aware of. I don't want Daniel hammered for something he never said or did. Does that make sense?

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@venatenzt I left Obsidian long ago, but point taken.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@laundrytv @Zero_Omega_ZX https://t.co/zLQ2FXtFro

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

That was someone else (Matt) who I have never met or worked with. You can check elsewhere on the internet.

Daniel, another art director, that was accidentally named here is almost never on social media beyond LinkedIn that I'm aware of. I don't want Daniel hammered for something he never said or did. Does that make sense?

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

That was someone else (Matt) who I have never met or worked with. You can check elsewhere on the internet.

Daniel, another art director, that was accidentally named here is almost never on social media beyond LinkedIn that I'm aware of. I don't want Daniel hammered for something he never said or did. Does that make sense?

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@33mrdanger33 @Darian_Wolf I'm not making comments on the quality of either product by saying this, I'm just explaining the pipeline side of it.

It also fits in with Obsidian's production targets of going for “mild successes,” whether you agree with that or not.

https://t.co/mPagC1dNsk

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@33mrdanger33 @Darian_Wolf If I were to guess: existing engine, can outsource a chunk of it (inc. creative design, which is weird), can focus on the content, and it's a project that can be done quickly. This is the kind of "sequel" project that Obsidian used to do, except now it's internal, sort of.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@33mrdanger33 @Zero_Omega_ZX Daniel is another art art director at Obsidian, since the company has multiple art directors. He was laid off along with many others yesterday. Daniel is almost never on social media I know of, beyond LinkedIn, so wanted to make that clear for everyone.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

@Uzzab680 @AttorNerdAtLaw For example, I really enjoyed working on FTL and Into the Breach, super small team, but the Subset guys cared, the vision was focused and smart, and the cost vs. a huge RTS is much, much, much lower.

[Chris Avellone @ChrisAvellone]

Yeah, but if you're already "settling" in the vision phase, you probably won't even raise a ping on the radar.

I'm not saying games need tons of money, every feature under the sun, spinal haptic controls, and the best cinematics ever, you can absolutely make great games with small teams, focused (but passionate) vision, and small budgets.