# Obsidian Entertainment - House: Developer - Date: Founded 2003 - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/obsidian-entertainment/ > The Black Isle diaspora's second act: an Irvine studio that wrote sequels for other people's worlds, crowdfunded Pillars of Eternity, and became the conscience of the talky, reactive computer RPG. **Why it matters:** Obsidian carried the writing-first tradition of Planescape: Torment and the Infinity Engine games into the 2000s and 2010s, and its 2012 Kickstarter proved that players would pay directly for a classic isometric RPG. ## Quick answers **What is Obsidian Entertainment?** The Black Isle diaspora's second act: an Irvine studio that wrote sequels for other people's worlds, crowdfunded Pillars of Eternity, and became the conscience of the talky, reactive computer RPG. **When was Obsidian Entertainment founded?** Obsidian Entertainment was founded in 2003 and is based in Irvine, California. **Who founded Obsidian Entertainment?** Feargus Urquhart and Chris Avellone. **What is Obsidian Entertainment known for?** Pillars of Eternity. **What happened to Obsidian Entertainment?** Acquired by Microsoft (announced November 2018); moved from Xbox Game Studios to ZeniMax Media in 2026. ## History By 2003 [Interplay Productions](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/interplay/) was sinking, and with it [Black Isle Studios](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/black-isle-studios/), the division that had made [Planescape: Torment](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/planescape-torment/), [Icewind Dale](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/icewind-dale/) and *Fallout 2*. On June 12, 2003, five of its leaders, [Feargus Urquhart](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/feargus-urquhart/), [Chris Avellone](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/chris-avellone/), Chris Parker, Darren Monahan and Chris Jones, founded Obsidian Entertainment in Irvine, California. Black Isle was closed that December. Without an intellectual property of its own, Obsidian became the industry's sequel specialist. It made *Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords* (2004) and *Neverwinter Nights 2* (2006), both following games by [BioWare](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/bioware/); *Fallout: New Vegas* (2010) for [Bethesda Softworks](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/bethesda-softworks/); *Dungeon Siege III* (2011); and *South Park: The Stick of Truth* (2014). The work paid the bills but was often rushed, and by 2012 a cancelled console project had forced layoffs and left the studio in trouble. Its rescue came from its fans. In September 2012 Obsidian launched a Kickstarter for "Project Eternity," an isometric RPG in the style of [Baldur's Gate](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate/), and raised nearly $4 million. Led by [Josh Sawyer](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/josh-sawyer/), it shipped as [Pillars of Eternity](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/pillars-of-eternity/) in 2015, followed by *Tyranny* (2016) and *Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire* (2018). Avellone left in June 2015. Microsoft announced its purchase of Obsidian in November 2018. Under Xbox it released *The Outer Worlds* (2019), the survival game *Grounded*, Sawyer's illuminated-manuscript mystery *Pentiment* (2022), and in 2025 the first-person fantasy RPG *Avowed* (February), *Grounded 2* (early access, July) and *The Outer Worlds 2* (October). In July 2026 news outlets reported that as much as a quarter of the staff had been laid off, a possible *Avowed* sequel cancelled, and the studio refocused on a game in the Fallout universe with Bethesda Game Studios; in September Microsoft moved Obsidian from Xbox Game Studios to ZeniMax Media. ## Notable work *Knights of the Old Republic II* and *Neverwinter Nights 2* showed Obsidian's hallmark early: companions who argue with the player's philosophy and plots that question the genre's assumptions. *Fallout: New Vegas* is its most celebrated game, a Mojave full of rival factions where almost every quest can be solved several ways. [Pillars of Eternity](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/pillars-of-eternity/) is its most important fantasy work. Set in the world of Eora, it revived the [Real-time with pause](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/real-time-with-pause/) combat, [The party](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/party/) and dense prose of the Infinity Engine games, adding a setting built around souls and reincarnation. *Avowed* later returned to Eora in first person, bringing Obsidian's fantasy into the [Open-World RPGs](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/open-world-rpg/) space defined by [The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-elder-scrolls-skyrim/). ## Legacy Obsidian is the keeper of a tradition: the [Western Computer RPGs (CRPG)](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/computer-rpg/) as a thing of words and choices, descended from [AD&D](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/advanced-dungeons-and-dragons/) tables by way of [Baldur's Gate](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate/) and [Planescape: Torment](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/planescape-torment/). Its Kickstarter helped launch the isometric revival of the 2010s, which ran through Larian's [Divinity: Original Sin II](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/divinity-original-sin-2/) to [Baldur's Gate 3](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate-3/). Many of its designers, including Avellone and Sawyer, became influential voices on writing and systems design, and the studio's reputation for reactive writing made it a byword for games where your choices are remembered. Its return to Fallout in 2026 closed a loop that began at Black Isle. ## Facts - Obsidian was founded on June 12, 2003, by five Black Isle veterans, months before [Interplay Productions](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/interplay/) shut [Black Isle Studios](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/black-isle-studios/) down. - Its first game was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II (2004), a sequel to a [BioWare](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/bioware/) game. - Fallout: New Vegas (2010), made for [Bethesda Softworks](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/bethesda-softworks/), is often ranked among the best Fallout games. - The Kickstarter for Project Eternity, which became [Pillars of Eternity](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/pillars-of-eternity/) (2015), raised nearly $4 million in 2012. - [Chris Avellone](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/chris-avellone/) left the studio in June 2015. - Microsoft announced it was buying Obsidian in November 2018. - In 2026 Obsidian was moved from Xbox Game Studios to ZeniMax Media, alongside a reported cut of up to a quarter of its staff. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian_Entertainment) - [Obsidian Entertainment](https://www.obsidian.net/) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.