Rare and Obsidian Could Be Set to Announce New IPs This Week

Zack Palm
November 13, 2019
News

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Developers Rare and Obsidian could be gearing up to announce new IPs during Microsoft’s annual celebration of all things Xbox, X019, according to a tweet from the senior analyst for Niko Partners, Daniel Ahmad.

XO19 is worth watching tomorrow if you’re a fan of Xbox Game Studios.

The event will have solid 2020 release dates for XGS games like Bleeding Edge, Minecraft Dungeons and Wasteland 3. New IP from Obsidian and Rare. A shadow drop. Plus much more. pic.twitter.com/7n26jSrrKQ

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) November 13, 2019

Unfortunately, Ahmad did not go into too many details about what either new IP could be. Given Rare’s history of games and their crucial role in working alongside Microsoft for several years, the nature of the IP is hard to guess at this time. They could launch a project similar to Sea of Thieves, featuring a different environment with brand new adventuring and group-centric mechanics.

Obsidian, which recently released The Outer Worlds to generally great acclaim, was acquired by Microsoft back in November 2018, which brought them in under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella.

Earlier this year in February, Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart shared with Game Informer how they had several teams working on different projects. They had one on The Outer Worlds, another working on their fantasy RPG Pillars of Eternity, and another tinkering away on an undisclosed title. At the time, the Pillars of Eternity and undisclosed project team were smaller than those working on The Outer Worlds. With X019 marking the one-year anniversary of the company’s acquisition by Microsoft, it could be fitting to make a formal announcement about the undisclosed project.

Microsoft’s next-generation console, currently known as Project Scarlett, is set to release during winter 2020. We could see Rare approaching the stage with a project set to serve as a launch title for the platform, especially given how much Sea of Thieves has become a staple of the Xbox Game Pass. It would make sense for Rare to step forward with an original idea to help kick-start Microsoft’s next console.

We’ll learn more details during X019, which takes place from Nov. 14 to 16. Watch it online from Microsoft’s Mixer, YouTube, or Twitch pages.