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InXile Boss Brian Fargo To Retire After Wasteland 3 Ships In 2019

"It seems like a good time to drop the mic."

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Brian Fargo, an industry veteran who worked at original Fallout developer Interplay and now heads up inXile, has announced that he will retire in 2019 after his studio's latest game, Wasteland 3, comes out.

Fargo told Eurogamer, "It seems like a good time to drop the mic," adding that Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera "came out great."

Some of inXile's other in-development projects include The Bard's Tale and the virtual reality game The Mage's Tale.

Fargo told Eurogamer that after decades of work in the video game business, it's time to take a break.

"I love this industry, but I've been at this since 1981. I've been at it with Ken and Roberta Williams [Sierra co-founders], Trip Hawkins [EA founder], the guys from Brøderbund," he said. "I look at my friends, they have a lot more spare time than I do. It's a very intense business. It's all encompassing. It seems like I should relax for a little bit."

It remains to be seen who will replace Fargo as inXile's top boss, though he said he's confident in his team and their abilities. "I've been training these people for years to make me obsolete. That's what you have to do as a leader of a company," he said.

Finally, Fargo stressed that inXile, as it stands today, is a profitable company with a bright future.

"We don't owe any external people any money. We don't have any debt," he said. "The other shares are with some of the employees of the company. So as long as it continues doing good product it should be fine."

You can read the full interview here at Eurogamer.

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jenovaschilld

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Edited By jenovaschilld

I love the games he has worked on for the last 2+ decades, I can still remember trying to get Wasteland running on an HP pc back in 92'. From so many series Warcraft, Shattered Steel, Starcraft, Fallout, Diablo franchises, Planescape, Stonekeep, Star Trek , Descent, Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale - he has credits in everything I love about CRPGs not ignoring every platform there is. His legacy is a quiet one who mentored every successful intelligent western RPG i can think of. He is not a Blezinski, Molyneux, or other flashy promises but delivers squat, he is not a developer that needed an agent, he is a creator and teacher that makes entertainment - that is so worth every dollar. 100 yrs from now very few other pioneers in this industry will be remember as highly as him.

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RogerioFM

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@jenovaschilld: Hear, hear.

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deactivated-5a0b0bf0c8fa5

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Helped fund many great games.

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RogerioFM

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You earned it tenfold Brian, the gaming industry is much richer because of you. No one will ever be able to take your accomplishments and even if the younger folks don't know exactly you are they'll feel your presence in any story rich game they play.

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jenovaschilld

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Edited By jenovaschilld

@computernoises: An idiot, I mean a total idiot. This is from my post above-

" I love the games he has worked on for the last 2+ decades, I can still remember trying to get Wasteland running on an HP pc back in 92'. From so many series Warcraft, Shattered Steel, Starcraft, Fallout, Diablo franchises, Planescape, Stonekeep, Star Trek , Descent, Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale - he has credits in everything I love about CRPGs not ignoring every platform there is. His legacy is a quiet one who mentored every successful intelligent western RPG i can think of. He is not a Blezinski, Molyneux, or other flashy promises but delivers squat, he is not a developer that needed an agent, he is a creator and teacher that makes entertainment - that is so worth every dollar. 100 yrs from now very few other pioneers in this industry will be remember as highly as him."

The problem with open boards is it allows those with no knowledge of gaming to comment, the last games he has been involved with are a love stories to his earlier career ... a encore if you like- at this level of success no one on earth deserves a drop the mic moment.

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RogerioFM

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@computernoises: Such ignorance.

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cornbredx

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@computernoises: Uh... you know that Brian Fargo is one of the founding fathers of Computer RPGs, right? He's been making games almost since the dawn of PC gaming as an entirety. Please explain how that is not noteworthy.

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RogerioFM

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Edited By RogerioFM

@computernoises: Bullshit, you downplayed his work, own your shit.

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Sobient

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@computernoises: You should not comment on these news pieces if you don't know what you're talking about.

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Thanatos2k

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Ah that's disappointing.

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LouiXIII

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Enjoy retirement pal

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whitejackel

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Good for him, and I am really looking forward to wasteland 3.

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cornbredx

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I didn't think he was that old. I'm surprised.

Something makes me question it, though. Brian Fargo seems like one of those guys that says he's retiring and then doesn't, or comes back or whatever.

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RogerioFM

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@cornbredx: He seems mostly tired, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's only a long and deserved break.

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deactivated-5a50575ec5600

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Respectable.

Good thing Wasteland will remain great if he follows through with his word, makes you wonder about the integrity of the incessantly rebooted games that are vomited out every year...

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Pyrosa

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Shade aside, the guy was the creator of many of the greatest gaming IPs of all time.

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Karmazyn

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but he is 54 years old and retirement age here in UK is 68. Ohhh well good for him.

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cornbredx

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@Karmazyn: You can retire whenever you want. It's about having the money to retire. There's no rule about retiring. It could also be tied to your job if they have benefits for if you retire from them. A lot of jobs it is based off of how long you work there (often 30+ years), but others don't even have these retirement incentives anymore. In the US anyway. Most have moved to 401k plans and matching.

When it comes to the government retirement just means when you can collect Social Security (in the US it's now 70 and I forget what early is, but you get less if you go early).

I don't know about what ya'll do overseas but that's how it is here. I'm sure even there there's no rules to when you can retire. At the end of the day you can retire whenever you want- no matter where you live. Most just want to have the money to do it first.

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deactivated-5a50575ec5600

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@Karmazyn: I know a 35 year old retiree.

68? Monarchies must suck, mate.

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Karmazyn

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@Raidendude153: yes they do, not for aristocracy though.

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Antarte

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The good devs, those that really make games from games, to gamers (instead to earn more money from the huge casual market), are always few ones, now will be fewer...

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DarthRevenX

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Edited By DarthRevenX

IDK, aren't musicians the ones to drop the mic??? them and comedians??

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Pelezinho777

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@darthrevenx: it's called metaphor you idiot!

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DarthRevenX

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@Pelezinho777: well when a mic is dropped isn't it supposed to be an accident????

I get that it's a metaphor but it's a stupid one.....the one about want in one hand and sh**t in the other and see which fills up faster makes way more sense.....

make some startling statement mic dropped....absolutely stupid IMO where is this spiritual mic? why was it dropped and who handed you the spiritual mic? seems like a lot of responsibility to me.......you sure you'rte up to the task?? mic dropped.....

sorry but a lot of modern slang and metaphors are just stupid....eww that's tight.....NO, WRONG only 2 things should ever be tight, screws/bolts and vaginas.....that's it....if you're saying the trick you did off Mt kill a man [named] Jarro and you say it was "tight" you're an idiot, the trick was "sick" if anything....its as bad as the 90's every thing was pre this and pre that....

at least in the 80's slang like "rad" meant something, short for radical.....but you never hear that one anymore....insead we get mic dropped......utter stupidity.....sorry I knew it was a metaphor but it's a stupid one....

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BeefoTheBold

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>Adds a publisher to his latest game after marketing the Kickstarter on not having one

>Adds console versions of the game taking away from the work being done on the PC version

>Cuts content at the last minute from Tides of Numenera without telling anyone forcing a Reddit contributor to discover and publish it.

"It seems like a good time to drop the mic."

Might as well say it's a good time to hang a big ole Mission Accomplished banner.

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Thanatos2k

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Edited By Thanatos2k

@BeefoTheBold: All those games came out great and your points are worthless quibbles or patent falsehoods no one seriously cares about.

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BeefoTheBold

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Edited By BeefoTheBold

@Thanatos2k:

"All" which games? I'm talking about one game. Torment: Tides of Numenera. And everything I said is factually accurate.

1. TToN added a publisher after the Kickstarter campaign deliberately marketed not having one.

2. Console versions were added despite TToN originally planned for release in 2014.

3. Numerous stretch goals like Player Stronghold and Factions were cut and the announcement came less than 2 months prior to release only after someone looked at the achievements and found there was nothing for them.

You can have an opinion those are "worthless quibbles" but there is absolutely nothing at all false about any one of those points.

And apparently you're also wrong that no one seriously cares about these points given both current metacritic and Steam user review averages are decidedly mixed. YOU may not think those three points are relevant but you don't speak for everyone given the mixed reception of the game.

It's totally okay to be of the opinion that overall Brian Fargo has done more good than bad during the course of his career. I'd actually agree with that. But your comment contained nothing but incorrect statements with regards to Torment: Tides of Numenera.

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Thanatos2k

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Edited By Thanatos2k

@BeefoTheBold: I backed it. I know all about that nonsense. I'll say it again - it's an excellent game, and those are worthless quibbles. Whining about a publisher who didn't effect development? Please. Whining about a console version when it was absolutely developed on PC for PC? Please. The cut content claim is also laughable to anyone who knows anything about game design, as is the development time.

So in conclusion, a bunch of uneducated whiners think they're better game devs than a legend. Uh huh. These whiners also appear to have forgotten that Kickstarter is not a store, and you are simply donating. You do not control the developer. You do not get to cry for a refund if they make any decisions you don't agree with. And they're not bad people in the goal of making and releasing a good game for doing something some entitled people disagree with.

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BeefoTheBold

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Edited By BeefoTheBold

@Thanatos2k:

If you truly think that no money or time went into creating the console versions or managing the publisher relationship then, well, I got nothing.

Feel free to explore the developer's own forums to see that I'm not alone in my criticisms.

https://forums.inxile-entertainment.com/viewforum.php?f=32&sid=f9d3c7865136b20b4024a49f5aac0f97

Interestingly that "no one" became "a bunch of uneducated whiners" after one post. Which basically means you've conceded the point that your view does not equal everyone's. PROGRESS!

And to bat down yet another of your strawmans...kindly point to where I asked for a refund? Don't bother. I didn't.

I just am not a fanboy who makes exceptions when someone does something bad. If I'm going to call out Bioware for a crap ME3 ending then I'll call out inXile for hiding that they were cutting out the stretch goals until someone called them out on it at the last moment and other places that they fell short and blatantly ended up lying to their backers.

You're someone whose viewpoints I genuinely respect and enjoy reading. This isn't personal. But they fucked this up in a number of ways and pointing out that this isn't a "drop the mic" moment is LEGIT no matter what they have done in the past.

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Thanatos2k

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Edited By Thanatos2k

@BeefoTheBold: "If you truly think that no money or time went into creating the console versions or managing the publisher relationship then, well, I got nothing."

You have no evidence whatsoever they detracted from the game we got.

"Interestingly that "no one" became "a bunch of uneducated whiners" after one post"

I thought it was pretty clear I meant "no one worth listening to." You confirmed that this was exactly the kind of people I was talking about!

"kindly point to where I asked for a refund"

The you was a plural you. As in the uneducated whiners I was alluding to earlier. But you knew that because you clearly have a grasp on English, so it's odd to assume I'm talking about just you despite multiple times being more general. What did you call those? Strawmans?

"I just am not a fanboy who makes exceptions when someone does something bad. If I'm going to call out Bioware for a crap ME3 ending then I'll call out inXile for hiding that they were cutting out the stretch goals until someone called them out on it at the last moment and other places that they fell short and blatantly ended up lying to their backers."

So you literally can't criticize the game itself, just make vague complaints about other stuff that might have maybe effected the game probably. A publisher did...something! They made a console version so....something must have been cut....maybe? Uh huh. Give concrete examples of how those things damaged the excellent game they released. You can't, because you weren't making the game, and you can't say at all that their design decisions to cut things and focus on others (which happens in every game ever made) weren't in the best interests of the game. Given the thing they produced is pretty damn good I'm going to say their decisions were the right ones. If they were "lying to the backers" no one would have known about any of this until after the game released - but that is absolutely not what happened - they explicitly announced such things in advance and explained in depth why they made the decisions that they did. You can cry "Well that's lies too!" but you have no evidence of that, and no credibility making said accusation.

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BeefoTheBold

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@Thanatos2k:

I thought it was pretty clear I meant "no one worth listening to." You confirmed that this was exactly the kind of people I was talking about!

Thanks for making my response easy.

Since you've bluntly stated that have no intention whatsoever of being open minded enough to admit that the things I listed were factual issues and not falsehoods, and no intention of accepting that your god-king there did some shady things during the course of developing the game in question - or any issues with the game in question such as the piss-poor combat - then I see no point in continuing the conversation. I'll talk with someone more open minded like Antarte below.

Bye, bye!

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Thanatos2k

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Edited By Thanatos2k

@BeefoTheBold: I've explained pretty well why said people are not worth listening to. You can run away, but you never had legitimate complaints to begin with. I know it's difficult to actually argue when you have no evidence of anything you're criticizing, so yeah - claim it's just a lost cause to debate and don't do it.

This has nothing to do with an open mind, it has to do with knowing what you're talking about, and such complaints indicate pretty well someone who is clueless about what actually happens during game development.

Kickstarter has apparently thrown open the doors for such people to appear and flaunt their ignorance when "promises are broken" by devs who change things during the design of a video game, like they do during the development of every single video game ever made. All that matters is the final product. You have people who change some things from what was originally pitched and the game turns out garbage, like Mighty No. 9. And you have people who change some things from what was originally pitched and the game turns out great, like Torment.

You brought up Mass Effect 3's ending. Here's the difference - no one would have given a shit about the parade of lies Bioware spewed about the contents of Mass Effect 3's ending if it hadn't sucked and utterly ruined the game and series. But it did suck, and so the months of lies could be rightly shoved back in their faces.

Same thing with No Man's Sky.

But yeah, go respond to Antarte, someone who agrees with you. Only talking with someone who agrees with you really is the only way you can pretend like you're right in any way about this.

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Antarte

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Edited By Antarte

@BeefoTheBold: yes, I agree with all of that (even voted you because it's true), and is very sad that devs still forced to perform some of the worst practices to make the best possible profit.

Having say that, we must agree that compared with other devs, that directly have prostituted their art (I'm talking about Diablo 3, Call of Duty, Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition...), making things in the poorest way, leaving the focused market to spread trough the huge casual market, and the worst is that they have done that to iconic names, sagas that was the foundation of entire genres, now casualized to the absurd... I think, in the final average, InXile have done pretty well.

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BeefoTheBold

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@Antarte:

I don't disagree with anything you've said. I find it pretty on point to be honest.

If Brian's tone had on how he chose to retire had been a bit less gloating and celebratory I'd probably have phrased my original comment a bit differently.

But as an Oddity level backer for TToN who is still waiting for his physical goods shipment almost a month after the game's release which itself was delayed for nearly three years past it's originally planned deployment date while missing a large portion of the stretch goals the Kickstarter supposedly funded, Brian taking a victory lap talking about dropping the mic definitely rubs me the wrong way.

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Antarte

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Edited By Antarte

@BeefoTheBold: Again you are saying the truth but I think you are focusing in the minor portion of the entire issue. From a wider perspective, Brian Fargo could be a casual developer earning fortunes, what he have done requires a huge personal effort, and sometimes simply can't do all what he was planned.

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KamiNoBeniMizu

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@BeefoTheBold: Seriously...!? Oh dang! Oh man! Oh mein gotto!

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