General Gaming Wyrdsong (dark fantasy RPG from ex-Bethesda/Obsidian devs set in fictionalized Middle Ages Portugal) - update (03/18): "most" of the staff laid off

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

Developer interviews:

 

What Is Wyrdsong, the ‘Coming Together’ of RPG Houses Bethesda and Obsidian? - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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Ex-Bethesda producer Jeff Gardiner describes Wyrdsong as a “preternatural, occult, historical fantasy” open world RPG. It is, he says, a “coming together of two great RPG houses” in its Bethesda and Obsidian DNA - we spoke to him about his very new project.

 

Quote

 

When Jeff Gardiner left Bethesda last year after 16 years working on games like Fallout 3, 4, 76, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and Oblivion, he wasn’t doing so with the intent of starting his own studio. In fact, he didn’t know what he wanted to do.

 

Gardiner at first tried taking a break “to see if the fantasy of just playing games all day was going to be fulfilling,” but it wasn’t. He then interviewed for some high level roles at studios, and thought about consulting. None of that spoke to him.

 

At the time, Gardiner was also reading a book called First Templar Nation by Freddy Silva – an alternative history book about the origins of the Knights Templar, specifically in Portgual. Coincidentally, he had just visited many of the castles and locations mentioned in the book prior to the COVID-19 pandemic on a trip with his wife. As he continued to think along the lines of mythology, ritual, and the nature of reality, Gardiner found himself inspired.

 

Eventually, on the advice of a friend, he put together a pitch deck and began shopping around his new game idea. Netease bit, to the tune of $13.2 million. And thus Something Wicked Games was born – a studio collaboration between Gardiner and Obsidian veteran Charles Staples – to work on Gardiner’s idea: Wyrdsong.

 

Wyrdsong is a “preternatural, occult, historical fantasy” game, and it’s going to be an open world RPG. It’s definitely single-player, no comment for now on multiplayer, and players can be “any race or gender” they want. It’s set in Portugal in the middle ages, and will explore themes around questioning the nature of reality, unreliable narrators, and the stories people tell themselves about their experiences. It is, he says, a “coming together of two great RPG houses” in its Bethesda and Obsidian DNA, and thus will include choices and consequences, Obsidian shades of grey, and in-depth dialogue trees. “We really want to have big, monumental elements you can only do in single-player games where you’re really affecting the world around you, and maybe other worlds as well,” Gardiner says.

 

 

 

 

Fallout veteran returns with new RPG, and a new studio making it

WWW.POLYGON.COM

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Jeff Gardiner leans on the ‘unreliable narrator’ with Wyrdsong

 

Talking to the former Fallout 76 lead about their new studio and occult RPG Wyrdsong

WWW.EUROGAMER.NET

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Jeff Gardiner, a Bethesda veteran of 15 years and most recently the project lead on Fallout 76, has announced a new stu…

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

So much for that...

 

Wyrdsong dev Something Wicked reportedly lays off majority of staff

WWW.GAMEDEVELOPER.COM

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A current employee claims the studio had to let go most of its staff, almost two years after it was revealed.

 

Quote

 

Mass layoffs have allegedly taken place at Something Wicked Games. Over the weekend, senior animator Eric Webb claimed the studio laid off "most of [our] staff."

 

Programmer Andrew Woloszyn and writer Jessica Sliwinski confirmed they were among those affected. "Even though it was short, I was lucky to work with such extremely talented people," wrote the former.

 

 

[best3444]

lol the layoffs are absurd in the industry. What a mess. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Just now, best3444 said:

lol the layoffs are absurd in the industry. What a mess. 

 

This what happens when the flow of "cheap" capital funding dries up.

[best3444]

20 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

This what happens when the flow of "cheap" capital funding dries up.

 

Drying up from what though? Other than too many employees to pay. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

1 minute ago, best3444 said:

Drying up from what though? 

 

A high interest rate environment increases the expected rate of return that capital investors expect from projects which means that they're far less likely to fund those that are evaluated to have a higher degree of risk associated with them.

[best3444]

Makes sense.