Pillars of Eternity documentary reveals tough times at Obsidian

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With the release of Pillars of Eternity only a couple of weeks away, Obsidian has released a brief teaser from the "Making Of" documentary that was offered as a reward to Kickstarter backers. The seven minute segment reveals that things were very grim at the studio prior to the crowdfunding success of Project Eternity, after the cancellation of a console project that was in the works forced layoffs and led to talk of shutting down entirely.

"As the months went by after that cancellation and we still didn't get a project, it got worse and worse and worse," Executive Producer and Lead Programmer Adam Brennecke says in the video. "And we kind of had a date in mind where we're like, 'If we pass this date [without a new project] then we're basically screwed.' We were basically going to run out of money."

Brennecke, Chris Avellone, and a few others discussed the idea of a Kickstarter, but the proposal didn't really gain traction until Double Fine hit it big with Broken Age. That success very quickly made crowdfunding seem like a viable option, and of course it was: The Pillars of Eternity Kickstarter pulled in nearly $4 million in 2012 on a $1.1 million goal. Obsidian announced in January that it will be out on March 26.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.