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The recent success of Avowed has prompted Obsidian Entertainment to explore additional projects within the Eora universe, which was initially introduced through the Pillars of Eternity series. The idea of creating a turn-based RPG, potentially titled Pillars Tactics, is gaining traction among the development team at Obsidian.
According to Josh Sawyer, who directed both the Pillars games and the acclaimed Fallout: New Vegas, there is significant interest within the team to pursue Pillars Tactics. He remarked, “Pillars Tactics is a thing that a lot of people at [Obsidian] would like to work on” (thanks to GamesRadar). Despite the enthusiasm, he acknowledged the challenges posed by the relatively small fanbase for tactical games, noting, “the fanbase is not humungous.” This presents a dilemma when considering the investment in a new game that caters to such a niche audience.
“How many developers do you dedicate to a relatively niche genre? How big do you make it? How much time do you dedicate to making it as pretty as, say, Avowed?” Sawyer articulated the difficulties of balancing these factors, emphasizing the need for a development scope that would ensure the game could be financially viable.
Even with a clear plan for the game’s scope and the development team size, there is no guarantee of financial success. Sawyer pointed out that although an engaging tactics game would certainly draw in genre enthusiasts, achieving a significant sales number remains a concern. The tactics genre has a history of successful titles, from Fallout Tactics to the XCOM series and Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus, which is set to release a sequel soon, indicating that there is still ample interest in new ventures in this space.
Avowed has been well-received, emerging as one of the most popular titles on Game Pass since its launch and garnering a large number of concurrent players on Steam. Obsidian has expressed satisfaction with its performance and is open to producing more games within the Eora universe. The potential introduction of Pillars Tactics may be on the horizon, yet there are still multiple factors for Obsidian to consider before finalizing their next project.
It is also important to note that Obsidian is concurrently working on The Outer Worlds 2, which is anticipated to be released this year, further complicating the studio’s plans for new developments.
Source
dotesports.com