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Fallout, KOTOR Dev On Why Its Xbox One RPG Was Canceled

"Stormlands got canceled because we didn't have an advocate [at Microsoft]."

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Before the system's launch, Fallout: New Vegas and Knights of the Old Republic 2 developer Obsidian Entertainment was working on an RPG for the Xbox One called Stormlands. It was not meant to be, however, as Microsoft reportedly canceled it in 2012. Now, Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart has shared his side of the story.

Speaking to IGN, he said the game's budget and the fact that no one at Microsoft "championed" it are the reasons why it never came out. "Why did Stormlands get canceled? Stormlands got canceled because we didn't have an advocate [at Microsoft]," he explained.

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Urquhart said big-budget games need to have "someone at the publisher" who can speak in defense of the game and convince upper management that it's worth investing time and money into. For reasons that are unknown, Stormlands didn't have this kind of support, apparently.

"For a game to truly be big, it often has to be pushed and it has to have ads and PR," he explained. "It comes down to budget and it comes down to having a champion [at Microsoft]."

According to Kotaku, Microsoft canceled Stormlands in March 2012 during the final meeting before it was to get a green light. A source told the site that Stormlands was aiming to be a "premiere RPG," but there are no other details available about the game. Obsidian reportedly laid off 30 developers as a result of the game's cancellation.

We have contacted Microsoft to ask if the company wants to share its side of the story.

Obsidian is currently working on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. A crowdfunding campaign for the game started last week and has been a big hit, raising more than $2 million already.

The developer worked with Ubisoft on 2014's South Park: The Stick of Truth and also made the tank game Armored Warfare, which is published by My.com. Obsidian's latest game is Tyranny, which came out in November 2016.

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