This action RPG defeated Obsidian Entertainment. Stormlands was supposed to offer raids for „a million players”
Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment had been working together long before the latter company came under the former's wing. Their biggest joint venture was to be an extremely ambitious action RPG titled Stormlands.
The seventh generation console era was a time when Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were in a balanced battle for gamers' wallets. As the second decade of the 21st century began, the race between Sony and Microsoft, which were slowly preparing to announce their next consoles, entered a new phase. Working on their next platform, the giant from Redmond spared no expense on technology and projects, which were intended to allow them to achieve a final victory over the competition from Japan.
One of the projects that held great promise was Stormlands, developed by Obsidian Entertainment studio. Although it remains largely a mystery to this day, years ago Feargus Urquhart, who was overseeing it, revealed a number of behind-the-scenes information about it in a conversation with Eurogamer. A picture of a highly ambitious game comes into view... so ambitious that the concepts behind it appear nearly impossible to implement even now. But let's start from the beginning.
Problematic project
In 2011, Obsidian Entertainment was an independent studio, and thanks to projects such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Dungeon Siege III, it enjoyed recognition from players and financial security. In the meantime, the developers were preparing to create the most ambitious of their titles to date, but although work on it began in 2006, it only started to take shape five to six years later.
We're talking about Stormlands, the demo version of which the devs took to Redmond after their other demo - Defiance - received an insufficiently positive reaction from a potential publisher in 2011. Although the idea behind it appealed to Microsoft they still expected something "new, groundbreaking" from Obsidian.
This is how Stormlands was born, a "great title" set on a planet where fierce storms raged, serving as the source of magic. Although the game demo created by the devs worked on the Xbox 360 and used the Dungeon Siege III engine, the full version was intended to eventually reach the third Xbox, later named Xbox One. What's interesting, the developers lacked confidence, so when the project caught Microsoft's attention and was included among the games for the launch of its new console, they were somewhat taken aback by their success.
The size of the contract signed with the giant from Redmond was also surprising for them, as the publisher aimed to "invest in the studio and the license for the long term," making it the largest in the team's history (except for Armored Warfare, which the team developed for 4.5 years).
What squeaks in a storm
What about Stormlands so captivated Microsoft? At first glance, this title seemed like one of many action RPG games. We would view events from a third-person perspective, explore a fantastic world, participate in "super action" fights with opponents, and engage in conversations with the NPCs.
Our character wouldn't be doomed to a solitary adventure, as they could count on the help of a companion at any moment. The combat system would be dynamic and reminiscent of the one from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, allowing for rolls or teleportation over short distances. On our path, we would encounter both beast-like people and opponents referred to as ghosts. Besides, the developers wanted to pay great attention to detail, as evidenced by, NPCs taking off their helmets before starting a conversation.
All of this was found in the presentation that Obsidian prepared for the Microsoft showcase. Unfortunately, at the time of writing these words, its record, which would allow us to see the described project in action, hasn't yet seen the light of day. So we have to rely on the impressions of the Eurogamer editor, who had the opportunity to see it, as well as on the screenshots shared by him, which I attach to this text.
Ambitious project
Microsoft didn't see Stormlands as just another action RPG, but a title that would shake the entire video game industry to its core. According to the plan, Obsidian Entertainment's game was supposed to offer Kinect support, utilize the additional power coming from the cloud, and also offer raids on an unprecedented scale. As Urquhart said, the idea behind these last ones was as follows:
Imagine you're playing The Witcher, maybe with a friend What happens if at points in time a giant creature pops up that you can see in the distance and (...) it's popping up for everybody who's playing. You all rush this creature and there's this haze around it, and as you're all rushing through the haze the game is matchmaking you into 40-man raids who are going to fight the creature
And what would happen after defeating such a boss? Urquhart also had an answer to this:
(...) but while the creature is being fought all the footage is being recorded up into the cloud. Then at the end we would come up with some kind of intelligent editing thing which would deliver everybody who fought a personalised, edited video of their participation in the raid. That is what was proposed to us.
Microsoft took Stormlands very seriously. Besides a significant amount set aside for this project and crafting ambitious plans for its content, the company was contemplating transforming it into a series. Unfortunately, as often happens, life quickly verified the plans of the developers and publishers.
Turbulent history and the project's end
The development of Stormlands continued, but over time, it seemed increasingly unlikely that the devs would complete the project in time for the Xbox One launch. The ambitious ideas of the publisher weren't the only problem that the developers had to face. The issue was complicated by the matter of the engine (the creators decided to use their own technology, as the Unreal Engine 4 for Xbox One wasn't yet ready), the developers' lack of experience in creating multiplayer projects, and finally, the release date, which was non-negotiable.
When the giant from Redmond realized that increasing financial expenditures for Stormlands wouldn't save this project, and might even further complicate the entire venture, in March 2012 it decided to cancel the project.
What happened next?
Following the cancellation of Stormlands by Obsidian Entertainment, a wave of layoffs occurred; the team then had to reorganize and begin working on new ideas during the "summer of offers." One of them was Fallen, a kind of variation on the theme of Stormlands, but it was rejected by all potential publishers (like Ubisoft or 2K Games). Interestingly, over time it also got a makeover, evolving into... Tyranny.
Despite the joint project of Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment being canceled, the companies maintained good relations. Six years later, in November 2018, the studio joined the giant from Redmond, where it has since developed games like Grounded, Pentiment, and the upcoming Avowed.