More Details Emerge about Canceled Xbox One Exclusive Stormlands
Xbox One launched in November 2013 with several day-one titles under its belt, though only a handful of those were actually Xbox One exclusives. Many will recall the RPG Stormlands was supposed to be in that exclusive lineup, but the game was canceled before the console released, and soon it faded altogether without much acknowledgement from Microsoft or developer Obsidian Entertainment (Alpha Protocol; Fallout: New Vegas). Now in a recent interview with Eurogamer, CEO of Obsidian, Feargus Urquhart, discussed what actually happened to Stormlands- from the game’s early beginnings to its ultimate cancellation. While both Microsoft and Obsidian have moved forward since then, the canceled game still highlights a growing problem that Microsoft seems to have with securing and sustaining working relationships with first-party developers.
Stormlands was initially pitched as an Xbox 360 exclusive, which drew inspiration from The Witcher series and the MMO genre in terms of gameplay. One of the ideas pitched for the game was that if players were in the same area as an enemy, the game would then create 40-man raids with the common goal of defeating it. The sheer scope of Stormlands, along with large amount of faith Microsoft was putting in the Xbox One, got the game bumped up to the new console as a launch title exclusive.
The now-cancelled title was supposed to be in it for the long haul. Urquhart notes, “They [Microsoft] wanted to invest in a developer and IP over the long-term. That deal was the largest contract we signed.” Stormlands being Obsidian’s largest contract is almost hard to imagine, given the huge success and popularity of Fallout: New Vegas; but ultimately the game was smothered under growing ideas and possible new directions for the game, all while trying to meet the demands for the launch of Xbox One on November 22, 2013. Microsoft attempted to fuel the developer with more resources- more people- but in the long run, it wasn’t the best decision. “Sometimes adding people to something doesn’t mean it’s going to get done any faster,” says Chris Parker, Vice President of Development. “It’s actually just going to be more complicated, more people running down the wrong path.”
Be sure to read the full interview over at Eurogamer and see the exclusive screenshots from the Stormlands Xbox 360 pitch demo. Let us know if you had been anticipating Stormlands as an exclusive launch title.
Tori Morrow
Tori is originally from Rapture but now she lives in Chicago. She enjoys open world RPGs, a good narrative-driven game, and is probably the only person still watching The Walking Dead.
