Obsidian Entertainment has been more than just a little busy, and with good reason. In 2015, the company released Pillars of Eternity, the isometric RPG that harkened back to classic Black Isle games such as Icewind Dale, Baldur’s Gate, and Planescape: Torment. Pillars proved to be both critically and commercially successful. In addition to a two-part expansion for that game, Obsidian released another isometric RPG just over a year later, the evil-sided “Tyranny” that showed how the other half lives.

It’s barely been three months since Tyranny launched and Obsidian are already fit and ready for their next game. On 26th, Obsidian launched a Fig crowd-funding campaign for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. In under 24 hours, Obsidian met their goal of $1.1 million.

Following its content-devoid GDC unveil, Obsidian's new “Tyranny” RPG revitalizes the Pillars of Eternity engine, but slaps a new, eviler-than-thou visage on top. We were given a hands-off preview of Tyranny and its single-player, four-character approach to classic RPG progression. The unveil demonstrated Tyranny's unique take on the player's role within conflict, acting an arbiter to warring factions and issuing fate-binding edicts.

Coincidentally, the player's characters are “Fatebinders” – archetypes we'd traditionally see as “bad guys” in standard RPGs, but they're clearly working only in the best interests of Terratus' inhabitants. Where the Lawful Good types might facetiously ask, “who are we to judge the fate of these townsfolk?” the Fatebinders would answer, “uh, that'd be us. Over here, in the red-and-black and radiating evil.”

Obsidian today announced its maniacal “Tyranny” RPG, published in renewed partnership with Paradox Interactive. As was the situation with Epic Games’ Paragon upon first reveal, there’s not much information right now – but we’ve got the basics, and we’ll have a full preview live in a week’s time.

Tyranny runs on the Pillars of Eternity engine, so it’s fair to expect the same multi-character, single-player system as exists there. At least, that’s the probable foundation. As its name might suggest, Tyranny’s undertone is one of oppression and ulterior motives – the player’s actions are less aligned with “good” and tend to edge more on the realm of “possibly really evil” – a stark change from Pillars of Eternity.

Old-school styled cRPG Pillars of Eternity has now sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.

Pillars of Eternity was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the company that brought us Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and, if your memory’s really good, Alpha Protocol. Obsidian was joined by publishers Paradox Interactive for this project, announcing their collaboration at last year’s GDC event.