‘We’re going to have to re-examine the entire format’
Obsidian isn’t sure about the future ofPillars of Eternity. After the sequel failed to live up to the lofty expectations set by the original, Obsidian is left to believe that major structural changes are necessary if a third game is to be made.
Responding to a fan question about a trilogy,Pillars of EternitydirectorJosh Sawyer said“I do think that the relatively low sales of [Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire] mean that if we consider making anotherPillarsgame in this style, we’re going to have to re-examine the entire format of the game.”
Sawyer was left to speculate as to whyDeadfireperformed worse commercially than the originalPillars— a question he didn’t really have an answer for. “Is it because the first game satisfied the existing need and the audience just wasn’t interested in the second,” Sawyer asked. “Is it because awareness was lower for the sequel? Is it because despite the strong reviews and the strong sales for the first game, people didn’t ‘really’ like it? Maybe it’s a combination of all of these things.”
BothPillarsgames were crowdfunded — the original on Kickstarter and the sequel on Fig. At the time, the firstPillars of Eternitywas the most successful video game Kickstarter ever, pulling in $3.99 million from 74,000 backers.Deadfireactually fared better, netting $4.41 million from approximately 34,000 backers. (Although, the disparity of earning more from half as many people can possibly be chalked up to Fig’s model where few people invested large sums in hopes of making a return profit.)
However, post-development, Obsidian was clearly not content withDeadfire‘s sales. It has left the studio gunshy about jumping into anotherPillarsgame — even if that decision is partially also Microsoft’s call now. Sawyer wraps up his thoughts by lamenting “I’m sure some of the people reading this think they know precisely whyDeadfiresold worse thanPillars 1. I don’t have that confidence, which is one of several reasons why I am leery about trying to direct a sequel. I couldn’t give [Obsidian’s] audience the game that they wanted and without understanding where I went wrong, I would be guessing at what the problems are and how to remedy them.”
