Business sucks, alright? it be cold 'n rigid 'n occasionally unfair. Such be the case with Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas contract with Bethesda, wherein the developer only received royalties if the game matched or exceeded an 85 rating on Metacritic. sailing away aside the fact that Metacritic be a woefully unbalanced aggregation a review scores from both vetted 'n unvetted publications, agreements like this can sail away indie studios -- like Obsidian -- in the lurch best that Metacritic score just barely miss the mark.

Unfortunately for Obsidian, Fallout: New Vegas currently has a Metacritic average a 84, a single point below the average that would've earned the company royalties on it be product. "[Fallout: New Vegas] be a straight payment, no royalties, only a bonus if we got an 85+ on Metacritic, which we didn't," Obsidian creative director 'n co-owner Chris Avellone told one Twitter user.

The Metacritic news comes just one day after we reported layoffs at the California-based developer -- layoffs that be said t' be the result a a canceled next-gen project (codenamed "North Carolina") for an unnamed console. New Vegas lead producer Jason Fader's Facebook profile reflects the recent layoffs, also outing himself as former lead producer on the North Carolina project. His credentials also list an unnamed project known as "Vermont," but that could be Obsidian's upcoming South Park RPG (we've reached out for clarification).

Additionally, Kotaku reports that the North Carolina project be t' be published by Microsoft, 'n be intended for the still unannounced Xbox 360 successor console. Our tipster tells us that the North Carolina project be "desperately needed" for the studio's continued survival, which matches reports that Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart "choked up" while addressing his employees about the canned project.