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Obsidian says no to microtransactions after signing with Take-Two indie label Private Division

Obsidian says no to microtransactions after signing with Take-Two indie label Private Division

RPG specialist Obsidian has said that it will not be putting microtransactions into its next project after the news it has signed with Take-Two's new indie label, Private Division.

In a forum post, the developer said simply: "'No'. No microtransactions of any kind in our game".

This follows Take-Two saying in its most recent investor call that it was looking to put microtransactions - or 'recurrent consumer spending' if you work in the world of finance - into all of its future games following the insane amount of money the publishing giant has raked in via the likes of Grand Theft Auto Online.

"We’re extremely excited about our upcoming RPG, and we know you are too," the studio wrote.

"We wish we could tell you all about it right now… but we’re going to hold off until the time is right. What we did want to talk about was a question a lot of you have been raising: “Will this upcoming game feature any lootboxes or other microtransactions?”

"The answer is simply: “no.” No microtransactions, of any kind, in our game.

"We also wanted to say a word about our partnership with Private Division, our publisher on this title. Far from “pushing” us to put anything -- microtransactions or otherwise -- into our game, Private Division has been incredibly supportive of our vision, our creative freedom, and the process by which we work to make RPGs. They have been fantastic partners, and we are extremely excited to work with them through release, to put what we know is going to be an amazing game into as many hands as possible.

"As always, thank you so much for your support. We know we couldn’t do what we do without our fans, and we want you to know that we put you guys first in every decision we make."

Private Division was announced last week. Though this is billed as an indie label, the reality looks like more of a mid-tier/indie-A/triple-I/acronym of the week publisher.

Keep your eyes peeled for our interview with Private Division in the coming days. 


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.