Fans have wanted this exact pairing since 2010. Now it’s reportedly happening, but not without a serious cost attached.
Obsidian Entertainment built its reputation on Fallout: New Vegas, one of the most beloved entries in the entire franchise. Since then, the studio has spent over a decade making other RPGs, from The Outer Worlds to last year’s Avowed, while fans kept asking the same question: when do they get to go back to the wasteland?
That question has hung over the franchise even as Amazon’s Fallout TV show became a genuine cultural phenomenon, reigniting interest in New Vegas in particular. Meanwhile, the last mainline game was 2018’s Fallout 76, and Fallout 5 has never even been a rumor worth taking seriously, with Bethesda locked into The Elder Scrolls VI.
Obsidian’s New Fallout Game Is Reportedly In Development
According to a new Bloomberg report from Jason Schreier, Obsidian is now working on a new Fallout title, and it will reportedly be led by design director Josh Sawyer, the same person who directed Fallout: New Vegas back in 2010. Bethesda is said to be involved in some capacity as well, though it’s unclear if that means direct co-development or a more hands-off support role.
The catch is that this didn’t happen in a vacuum. To make room for it, Obsidian has canceled a planned sequel to Avowed, a project that was reportedly on track to be revealed within the next year. Bloomberg’s sources say the sequel simply didn’t fit new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s strategy of doubling down on the brand’s biggest franchises.
The pivot also arrives alongside brutal news for the studio itself. Obsidian laid off roughly a quarter of its workforce this week, part of the broader wave of Xbox cuts that will total more than 2,000 jobs across the division. Some Obsidian developers are reportedly staying on the shelved Avowed sequel in hopes it gets greenlit again down the line, while others shift focus to the new Fallout project, along with continued support for The Outer Worlds 2 DLC and Grounded 2.
Sawyer has said before that he’d take on a new Fallout game if Microsoft asked, provided he could do it on his own terms. Whether those terms survive a restructuring this chaotic is the open question hanging over the whole announcement, and Xbox hasn’t confirmed any of it publicly yet.
No release window exists, and given New Vegas took roughly 18 months back in 2009, nobody should expect this one to move nearly that fast. Fans will be watching for Microsoft’s next official word on the project.
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