Obsidian staff ‘missed Metacritic pay by 1 point’

Downsized California studio Obsidian lost out on bonus pay for the RPG Fallout New Vegas because its Metacritic score was one point below the threshold, a developer at the studio has claimed.

Publisher Bethesda was not permitted to pay additional royalties for the RPG because it scored 84 on Metacritic, according to Fallout New Vegas developer Chris Avellone.

It appears that Obsidian’s publishing contract included a deal that meant the studio would be issued bonuses if the game hit a Metacritic of 85.

By the end of 2010, some 5 million copies of Fallout New Vegas had shipped worldwide, achieving revenue of about $300 million.

https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/180062439394643968

Yesterday it emerged that Obsidian had made as many as thirty staff redundant due to a project cancellation.

The studio is developing a South Park RPG for publisher THQ, with speculation suggesting a separate triple-A project has been cancelled.