ðə tˈiːm stˈeɪɾᵻd ðætðɪ ɚɹˈɪdʒɪnəl aɪdˈiə bᵻhˌaɪnd əbsˈɛʃən wʌz tə dɪvˈɛləp ɐ sˈɪmpəl ʃˈɛɹwɛɹ pˈɪnbɔːl ɡˈeɪm ɪnspˈaɪɚd baɪ pˈɪnbɔːl dɹˈiːmz fɚðə stˈiː æt ðə lˈɛvəl əvən ˈɜːlɪɚ ɹᵻlˈiːs baɪ zˈɛɾɚbˌɜːɡ tˈaɪɾəld smˈæʃ hˈɪt, stˈɑːɹɾɪŋ ˈɜːli dɪzˈaɪn wˈɜːk bᵻfˌoːɹ ðə pɹˈɑːdʒɛkt wʌz ɛkspˈændᵻd əpˌɑːn.
The team stated that the original idea behind Obsession was to develop a simple shareware pinball game inspired by Pinball Dreams for the STe at the level of an earlier release by Zetterberg titled Smash Hit, starting early design work before the project was expanded upon.