Feargus MacRae Urquhart is the former President at Interplay Entertainment, Black Isle Studios and is the current CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. Urquhart was involved with the production of both Fallout and Fallout 2, and had been working on the Van Buren project up until its cancellation.
Career[]
In the mid-1990s, Urquhart joined forces with Tim Cain and others to produce the opening act of what would be the Fallout franchise, "Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role Playing Game". Following Fallout's 1997 release, team-structure negotiations between Interplay and Cain collapsed, leading to the departure of several principal designers of the original Fallout. In 1998, Urquhart was given the reins to Interplay's newly-created development division for role-playing games, Black Isle Studios.
After Timothy Cain, Jason D. Anderson, and Leonard Boyarsky left Fallout 2 to form Troika Games, Urquhart and Matt Norton took over in directing the game.[1] Fallout 2 was released later that year, but due to a rushed production schedule, numerous bugs and programming mistakes were discovered by the general public. Although many of these mistakes were the result of an abnormally compressed production schedule, blame was laid mostly at Urquhart's feet. However, Urquhart and the rest of the Black Isle Studios staff worked diligently to patch many of the mistakes that made it into the release.
In 2003, Interplay fell into serious financial difficulties. In December, the Black Isle Studios division was closed down, and its staff laid off - Urquhart included. With the help of former Fallout colleagues Chris Avellone, Chris Jones, Darren L. Monahan and Chris Parker, Urquhart founded Obsidian Entertainment in Santa Ana, California.
Gameography[]
- Fallout (1997)
- Fallout 2 (1998)
- Baldur's Gate (1998)
- Planescape: Torment (1999)
- Icewind Dale (2000)
- Van Buren (Canceled in 2003)
- Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Employment history[]
| From | To | Company | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 2003 | Interplay Entertainment | President |
| 2003 | Present | Obsidian Entertainment | CEO |
Credits[]
Fallout series[]
| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Fallout | Division Director |
| 1998 | Fallout 2 | Producer Lead Designer SPECIAL game system design Division Director |
| - | Van Buren | Designer |
| 2010 | Fallout: New Vegas | CEO & President |
Other work[]
| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Castles II: Siege and Conquest | Additional Designer |
| 1999 | Planescape: Torment | Production |
| 2000 | Icewind Dale | Production Division Director |
| 2006 | Neverwinter Nights 2 | CEO & President Executive Producer |
| 2014 | Pillars of Eternity | CEO & President Kickstarter Team |
| 2019 | The Outer Worlds | CEO & President |
Behind the scenes[]
The Vault City designer notes include credit to Urquhart for the design of Vault City.[2]
References[]
- ↑ Chris Avellone: "@TheREALMrDerp Feargus Urquhart/Matt Norton directed F2 after Cain/Anderson/Boyarsky left after a few months to form Troika."
- ↑ Vault City designer notes