Chris Avellone on The Outer Worlds writers' deal with Epic Games: 'The best way to kill interest in a game'

The Outer Worlds role-playing game from Leonard Boyarsky and Tim Cain, one of the creators of Fallout, has been actively discussed since the announcement and even called the most anticipated project of the year. But after it became known at the Game Developers Conference 2019 event about the deal of the authors with Epic Games, many gamers admitted that they had lost interest in it. Dissatisfied with the decision of Obsidian Entertainment and Chris Avellone (Chris Avellone), who led the development of Fallout 2 with Kane.

During the first year, The Outer Worlds will be sold on the Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store, and only after that it will appear on Steam and possibly other stores. In fact, it will not be exclusive, but many gamers still reacted extremely negatively, because they expected to buy it on the Valve site.

On Twitter, Avellone noted that the agreement was signed solely out of a thirst for "easy money". First of all, he blames the management of Obsidian (the studio where he worked for many years) for this, but admits that Epic is also responsible for what happened. The developers themselves, he stressed, as a rule, are not involved in such decisions and "learn about them last."

“This is the best way to cut down on the hype around the game,” he wrote. “This project may have received more attention from gamers than any other in the history of the studio, but they traded it all for money.” 

“If it’s worth waiting a whole year, it’s only for the developers to fix bugs and release additions, so if you are patient, then this is a good option,” said Avellone. — I'm upset because I planned to play it as soon as possible (I love the design of Tim [Kane], I know the developers well, they are great). But there are many reasons why I don't want to use the Epic platform."

According to one reader, the authors could sell The Outer Worlds on both Steam and the Epic Games Store, but at the same time lower the price in the second store. Players could decide for themselves what is more important for them - the price or buying on a more convenient site. “Totally agree,” Avellone replied.

Avellone's words sound especially sad because he himself fueled interest in The Outer Worlds after the announcement. In one of the tweets, the game designer mocked Bethesda Softworks, hinting that a big role-playing game from the creators of the original Fallout and Fallout: New Vegas is better than what its current owner is doing with the series.

Avellone is excited that last week's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, which he's working on as a screenwriter, will be sold across multiple digital stores - with no exclusive deals. “Paradox Interactive understands how important this is, and I am grateful to her for this,” he admitted.

The Outer Worlds is being created for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The release is expected this year.

Avellone left Obsidian, where he worked as a senior designer and writer, in the summer of 2015. He participated in the creation of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, Alpha Protocol, Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny. After that, he began to help other studios: the game designer had a hand in Torment: Tides of Numenera, Prey, Divinity: Original Sin II, Pathfinder: Kingmaker and other projects. Now he is working as a screenwriter not only on Bloodlines 2, but also on Star Wars - Jedi: The Fallen Order (its full announcement will take place in April), a remake of System Shock and Dying Light 2.

Source: 3dnews.ru