Windows Central Insider
It's come to light that Obsidian Entertainment — the storied, legendary developer known for creating Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds, and Grounded, Pentiment, Avowed, and The Outer Worlds 2 under Xbox Game Studios — is currently facing a class action lawsuit after allegedly "violating state wage and hour laws."
The case — first opened in October last year, and followed by an amended complaint that was filed in January by plaintiff Victoria Turner, a QA lead that worked on Obsidian's 2025 RPG The Outer Worlds 2 — accuses the Xbox studio of engaging in "a systematic pattern of wage and hour violations under the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Wage Orders."
Specifically, it's alleged that the developer failed "to pay all wages (including minimum wages and overtime wages)," didn't "provide lawful meal periods or compensation in lieu thereof," and didn't "authorize or permit lawful rest breaks or provide compensation in lieu thereof."
It's also been claimed that Obsidian failed to "reimburse necessary business-related costs," "provide accurate itemized wage statements," "pay wages timely during employment," and "pay all wages due upon separation of employment."
The lawsuit "seeks monetary relief" for Turner and "all others similarly situated in California" where Obsidian is headquartered, with the ultimate goal being "to recover, among other things, unpaid wages, unreimbursed business expenses, benefits, interest, attorneys' fees, costs and expenses, and penalties."
Notably, the case covers "all persons currently or formerly employed by any or all Defendants as nonexempt employees in the State of California at any time between October 9, 2021 and the date of class certification." The plaintiff also seeks to include "All members of the Class who separated their employment with any or all Defendants at any time between October 9, 2022 and the date of class certification."
Obsidian's first response to the lawsuit came in early March, with the studio stating that it "denies, generally and specifically, each and every allegation in the FAC [First Amended Complaint]." It also denied "that Plaintiff and/or any putative class members she purports to represent have suffered any injury or been damaged in any sum whatsoever by reason of any act or omission" from the developer or its staff.
Obsidian then argued Turner's case "fails to state facts sufficient to constitute valid claims," and added that "Plaintiff and any putative class member and/or other allegedly aggrieved employees consented to and/or acquiesced in the alleged conduct by Defendant of which Plaintiff now complains."
Essentially, what the studio is saying here is that Turner hasn't provided adequate proof to support the lawsuit's claims, and that the workers it represents voluntarily gave up lunch and rest breaks. The case hasn't progressed since that response, but I and the rest of Team Windows Central will keep an eye on it and report on new developments.
All of this comes amid Obsidian's efforts to restructure itself within Xbox, with the developer enacting plans to shorten development cycles, more frequently work with partner studios, and reuse technology and solutions from previous projects as it builds new ones.
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