Top Ten @ Obsidian Updated

Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart has stopped by the ongoing “Top Ten @ Obsidian” thread in their forums to answer another user-submitted question. This time around, he addresses whether or not the company will continue to make “safe” games or take a risk by creating a new IP:

As an industry we can’t just make licensed products because we will then only ever be a secondary outlet for ideas. If new ideas never come from us then I think that makes us less. Plus, without new worlds and ideas, I would never have gotten to play a lot of the games that I’ve loved. I do think it’s more of a gamble to create an entirely new game though, because you are starting at zero with the player. When you have a license, like let’s say 24, the player most likely knows who Jack Bauer is – which means you don’t have to put much explanation into that aspect of the game. You can get the player into the story or action faster without needing as much of an introduction. It’s why most fantasy games have elves. We all know what an elf is – they like nature, live a long time, are more magical and have pointy ears. The player will invest their feelings of elves into the game without you having to do much. If they love or hate elves then you already have those emotions to work with when weaving the story or action of the game.