In the world of Western RPGs, Obsidian Entertainment is a name to know. This American video game developer was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios by ex-Black Isle employees. While that name has not been seen in a long time, Black Isle Studios is one of the original pioneers of the CRPG genre, being the developer behind the original two Fallout games, Planescape: Torment, the Icewind Dale series, and the publisher of most Baldur's Gate games. Obsidian Entertainment carried on this legacy, becoming known as the developer of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords and Fallout: New Vegas, among several other things.
After a long absence from the genre, Obsidian held a successful Kickstarter campaign to release Pillars of Eternity in 2015. Following some other projects, Obsidian later released Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. Shortly after that, the studio was relieved of its financial difficulties via an acquisition by Microsoft. The first game it released under Microsoft's banner was The Outer Worlds, a spiritual successor to Fallout: New Vegas. The company’s history currently ends with the Early Access release of Grounded, but this RPG powerhouse still has plenty of projects left. Even if Obsidian's name is not quite as relevant in the modern-day as Bethesda or BioWare, it still puts out excellent Western RPGs, and has several in the works right now.
Grounded
Among Obsidian's output, Grounded is a special case. The company is no stranger to experimenting with other genres, but Grounded leaves the usual CRPG format behind in favor of a survival crafting game. Players take control of children who have been shrunk down to the size of an ant, and must survive in an overgrown backyard. As well as starvation and dehydration, players must also survive the attacks of a wide variety of insects and arachnids. While the game was expected to come out of Early Access in 2021, it is still receiving content updates as of February 2022 with no end in sight. Still, Grounded has come a long way, so fans of the genre may want to check it out.
Avowed
Avowed is both more indicative of Obsidian's normal output, and a clear marker of where the company plans to head. Set in the same world as Pillars of Eternity, Avowed will be Obsidian's major modern-AAA first-person RPG. It appears that Avowed is meant to take on the role of the company’s Skyrim, while The Outer Worlds continues to serve as a Fallout equivalent. Very little about the game has been revealed, but even in the CG reveal trailer, the similarities to The Elder Scrolls are plain to see. It will be interesting to explore the Pillars of Eternity setting from a new angle once this presumably open-world action RPG is ready.
The Outer Worlds 2
Two projects are a lot to take on for a company that used to be fairly small, and there is a real possibility that a third project will be released before either of those two. Surprising many fans, The Outer Worlds 2 was revealed at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2021. Very little is known about the game other than the tagline "New solar system, new crew, same Outer Worlds." It is expected to be similar to the first game, which should please fans who aren't likely to get the typical Fallout experience from Bethesda anytime soon.
Pentiment
The last game Obsidian Entertainment may be currently working on is only a rumor, but it sounds plausible. In November 2021, a title called Project Missouri, later amended to Pentiment, was leaked. Supposedly, this will be a small, experimental game that takes place in 16th century Europe. It will be a murder mystery game that is not planned to have any combat, similar to the modern CRPG classic Disco Elysium. This mysterious title is said to be directed by Josh Sawyer, the lead designer behind Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity. This sounds like a call back to Obsidian's heyday, which its newer AAA games are getting away from. This title has yet to be announced, but hopefully it is both real and a triumphant return to the Obsidian of days long past.