As has been discussed to death both here and on the Internet at large, Fallout: New Vegas is one of the best RPGs ever made. Although it started life as a contracted-out amuse-bouche to keep Fallout fans happy while Bethesda was all hands on deck with Skyrim, Obsidian — an RPG studio formed from the same ex-Black Isle devs who created the series to begin with — knocked it out of the park nonetheless.
The depth of character, worldbuilding and consequential player choice found in New Vegas easily trumps anything found in Bethesda's efforts, which may be why the IP has been so jealously guarded since. Fans have been clamoring for Obsidian to get another crack at the series, a proposition which seemed all the more likely when Xbox acquired both Bethesda and Obsidian… but then proceeded to do nothing with them.
Now, though, that dream is becoming reality, although I really do wish it was under better circumstances. Part of the massive "restructuring" Xbox underwent recently included a push to refocus Bethesda on its core franchises like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. Translated from corporate speak, that means "it's been a goddamn decade since the last Fallout game and if you even think about another Starfield expansion we're going to feed Todd Howard to a deathclaw."
With a Bethesda Fallout 5 still a distant prospect, though, drastic measures are being taken. According to reputable insider Jason Schreier (no, seriously, he's the #1 scooper in the industry), a new Obsidian Fallout game has just been greenlit:
As part of the shake-up, Obsidian has canceled a planned sequel to the 2025 roleplaying game Avowed along with other unannounced projects.
Under the new plan, studio design director Josh Sawyer will lead a new title in the Fallout universe — a series of roleplaying games that take place in an alternate history in which the US has been ravaged by nuclear war. The emerging strategy is still in flux, the people said, and could still change.
Previously, Sawyer had been directing a roleplaying game that was similar structurally and thematically to Fallout but was not part of the franchise.
An Xbox spokesperson declined to comment.
As you may recall, Josh Sawyer was also the director of Fallout: New Vegas, so if nothing else, this new game will have a strong vision right from the start. New Vegas creative designer John Gonzalez and Fallout series creator Tim Cain also both recently returned to Obsidian, which makes me cautiously optimistic.
Less promising is the fact that this is a pretty clearly a "make this game or your entire studio is getting canned" directive passed down from on high. I too wanted a new Obsidian Fallout, but not at gunpoint.
