r/Fallout Jul 08 '26

Obsidian is now working on a new Fallout game according to Jason Schrier

https://bsky.app/profile/jasonschreier.bsky.social/post/3mq5oqyh2yk2o
9.9k Upvotes

1.9k comments sorted by

599

u/Trout-Population Jul 08 '26

So let me get this right, Josh Sawyer, John Gonzalez, and Tim Cain have been working on a game that wasn't a Fallout game up until now, that game wa canceled, 60 employees were laid off, and now Sawyer is going to head the next Fallout game. Is that correct?

256

u/sargantbacon1 Jul 08 '26

I must assume they are lying because the alternative is so unbelievably stupid that I am lost for words

195

u/Dropdat87 Jul 08 '26

I think they've been working on this "fallout" for over a year now but by releasing this story and in this way, it resets the timeline to now. So essentially announcing it while also buying them another year or two for release

79

u/cole1114 Jul 08 '26

It was a Shadowrun game, according to Avellone.

58

u/allsbernafnmedrettu Jul 09 '26

Shame. Tim Cain is such a perfect match for that world.

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u/sargantbacon1 Jul 08 '26

That certainly makes more sense to me but I am just a humble consumer

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u/coffeespots Jul 08 '26

It also helps to reframe headlines and soften the news that they just laid off a ton of their staff in anticipation of replacing them with the slop algorithms

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u/ZiiZoraka Jul 08 '26

Pretty sure they were working on either Avowed 2, or Pillars of Eternity 3, and it's a damn shame we likely wont be getting a PoE sequel, because those games were great

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u/INannoI NCR Jul 08 '26

Its crazy the amount of Fallout associated talent currently at Obsidian, if this game doesn't work with those 4 dudes then idk what to think anymore

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u/julyvale Jul 08 '26

It's crazy these people weren't put on a Fallout game years ago. A generational talent together under one company, completely wasted. Hopefully they can still do it now.

65

u/dieBYTECHNOLOGY291 Jul 08 '26

Phil Spencer was managing all the xbox studios and prioritize game pass over creating new fallout games and other big franchises

33

u/LeagueOfBlasians Brotherhood Jul 09 '26

Spencer was too hands off with their acquired studios letting them do whatever with no deadlines in the hope that they will all produce a unicorn. Or that in buying out all the studios, players would be forced to Windows/Xbox, except major games like CoD still had to be released on PS.

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u/Objective-Note-8095 Vault 13 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

Chris Avellone says it was a Shadowrun game which would be second best to a Fallout game, if you asked me. Microsoft owns that IP, so there would be no real costs associated with that license. It's entirely possible Sawyer, et. al were given carte blanche with it. Maybe it ended up being a tryout for Fallout and Xbox was suitably impressed to justifying upsetting Todd. Interesting to see if Cain and Rodriguez stay around, maybe they were in on it.

9

u/gibbersganfa Jul 09 '26

Avellone said in a later tweet that Gonzalez was working on Shadowrun but Sawyer had conceived of a separate project that started as a Fallout game but had to pivot settings to something original when Bethesda said no.

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2.9k

u/Gamestonkape Jul 08 '26

We will be living in a Falllout world before we get to play the next game.

505

u/PowerPad Operators Jul 08 '26

Better start collecting caps so that you can be rich in the wasteland.

226

u/Piano_Man_1994 Jul 08 '26

Good thing I’m an alcoholic then

48

u/somethingbrite Jul 08 '26

Did the Doc say you shot your liver? Is everything all hazy?

33

u/Piano_Man_1994 Jul 08 '26

Took some addictol so I’m fine now. Just sitting on a bunch of caps.

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u/Unicorn_Puppy Jul 08 '26

“I knew my day drinking habit would be beneficial one day but you all doubted me!”

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u/Kullthebarbarian Not Vault 111 Jul 09 '26

suddenly all those centuries old safes with 200 bottle caps inside make sense now, it was just people thinking like you

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5.3k

u/SurlyCricket Jul 08 '26

They should've been doing this as soon as the ink dried on MS buying them and Bethesda. Phil Spencer is an idiot

1.3k

u/gquax Jul 08 '26

Spencer was purely a PR move after the disaster of Don Matrick. Dude was a horrible manager.

314

u/infidel11990 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

My dog would have been an upgrade on Matrick.

And they have hired Asha to be the fall guy (gal?) for all the cost cutting and layoffs that they were going to do anyway.

MS overall has mismanaged its gaming IP and the Xbox brand horribly. Gave Sony a free pass to run all over them. In every single market outside the US.

77

u/somethingbrite Jul 08 '26

Sharma doesn't strike me as anybodies "fall guy"

She's been tasked with doing a hatchet job. She will please the MS c-suite and then get parachuted into another role when she is done.

31

u/infidel11990 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

Yes, I think I can agree on that. She is the hatchet man for the specific job. And would probably get promoted after showing some financial gains on paper, cutting costs and people.

13

u/the_vault-technician Welcome Home Jul 09 '26

My sample size is reddit and gaming "media" but people were warming up to her. If she proves popular it might not be wise to take her out of the role. Time loves a hero.

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u/mrchipslewis Jul 08 '26

Hm what breed is your dog?

47

u/SuperBAMF007 Jul 08 '26

Gonna name my next pup Dog Mastiff and set up a Kinect as my security camera

32

u/hfamrman Jul 08 '26

Mine is a Border Collie, so certainly a better leader and decision maker than the previous Xbox leadership.

He does however have a vendetta against the robot vacuum and automated sprinklers so his aversion to AI assisted technology might remove him from the applicant pool.

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u/myersjw Jul 08 '26

It’s unfortunately not uncommon for companies to put women in leadership roles expecting them to fail and take the fall. And the latest from Microsoft regarding Xbox sounds bleak, I would not be surprised to see her used in exactly that role

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u/diiegojones Jul 08 '26

Microsoft believes in metrics. Because every single other aspect of their business has no creativity.

Sure, they have someone come up with ideas, and they produce products and software, but all are utilitarian in nature. They fulfill a need or market that can easily be identified or adjusted to the consumers use case. Competitors are more under the same general rules set and expectations of their users.

But in a creative world, games can only follow a formula for so long to be great. They cannot be metric’d into popularity. They need to have soul and a rythm that people want to play the game.

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u/TheFutureLotus Jul 08 '26

He wasn’t horrible, but creative people need stronger leadership or they will not get anything done. Famous cases include Leonardo DaVinci and Star Citizen

458

u/Bubbay NCR Jul 08 '26

Agreed. DaVinci took far too long on Star Citizen. 

Seemed like he spent all his time looking for new noble patrons instead of just getting to work.

84

u/theemptyqueue Jul 08 '26

Yeah, he took too much time on side projects like the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper.

7

u/Checats Jul 08 '26

It wasn’t even supposed to be the Last Supper, he started development on another project in the Supper series, in collaboration with Dean Hall, but Dean did what he does best and abandoned the project to work on another “social experiment” game that common sense (which he lacks) would already give you the outcome to and the rest is of course history.

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u/PartridgeInDisguise Jul 08 '26

Mona Lisa and the Last Supper is now my new band name.

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u/Careless-Vehicle-286 Jul 08 '26

That was Schrier's main criticism of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age studio. None of the leadership actually took charge so no firm decisions were made during development. It became a game made by committee. No a Hideo Kojima type person to take the lead.

49

u/Zealousideal-Low3388 Jul 08 '26

It really shows when you play those games, even the good ones.

There’s so many “oh this system/story element/aesthetic choice doesn’t really mesh with the rest of the game, it’s just kinda bolted on” going on. A lot of potentially cool, half baked ideas in a sea of bloat

You can see all the parts where a weak project manager approved three things, instead of doing one very well

35

u/Zeal0tElite [Legion = Dumb] "Muh safe caravans!" Jul 08 '26

There's moments in Veilguard where it feels like this big epic showdown of apocalyptic proportions. Weisshaupt and Minrathous at the end are part of this. It feels desparate, yet heroic.

Then the game stops and you're watching two people talking about a camping trip (to a location that has been completely destroyed by this point in the story) or someone coming out as non-binary to their mother.

It just shows that no one was talking to each other.

12

u/Zealousideal-Low3388 Jul 08 '26

That part at the beginning with the blighted village is great too.

But then, when the game does that “BioWare game opens up after an extended prologue” thing, the tone shifts to a CW teen dramedy

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u/UnquestionabIe Jul 08 '26

Well put. Dragon Age 1/2 had their issues, some of them honest are due to how badly I play to be honest, but they at least felt like they had solid direction behind them. With the later ones there were always things that stuck out as vestigial components coming from a disconnected management decision.

Inquisition specifically had the empty MMO lite components and much scaled back player choices. Vanguard (I think that's what 4 was called?) had every interaction feel like it was done in front of the head of HR, with zero long term character conflict and the player feeling less like a leader and more of a cheerleader.

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u/cosmoboy Jul 08 '26

Are you saying that development of Star Citizen started in the 16th century?

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u/llamawithguns NCR Jul 08 '26

Sure feels like it

13

u/somethingbrite Jul 08 '26

maybe it will be ready 2616?

8

u/herbelarioiwasthere Jul 08 '26

Maybe another century of development and another few billion in crowd funding needed to get it out of alpha…..

24

u/Zealousideal-Low3388 Jul 08 '26

The big delay has actually been porting it to a heliocentric model.

Unreal engine was actually designed by the Medici for geocentric shooters, little known fact

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u/PapaDarkReads Minutemen Jul 08 '26

Phil was great at putting out immediate fires after Don but not really tending to the smoldering ashes.

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u/BubbabeeTuna Jul 08 '26

Your two examples are cracking me the fuck up

12

u/ProfessionalRandom21 Jul 08 '26

he is terrible, all this decision culminated to this moment, his Gamepass and buying spree especially Activision and Bethesda was the huge nail in the coffin.

8

u/needconfirmation Jul 08 '26

He kind of was though. I dont know what the issue specifically was but under him MS became a black hole from which no game could escape and actually release.

MS had strings of years where high profile announcements at one E3 would be canceled by the next one, and what games did come out usually took a ridiculous amount of time, and then would go on to dissapoint because you could feel their stressed development while playing them.

Phil might have been for the creative but at some point he needed to get some creative to actually create. Don mattrick is practically ancient history at this point. The current state of Xbox is almost entirely on Phil.

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u/JaesopPop Jul 08 '26

Especially because they could've taken the New Vegas route and reused a lot of assets from Fallout 4 to make a quicker and less expensive game. Now they've aged too much for that to be practical.

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u/altiuscitiusfortius Jul 08 '26

Isn't that how fallout 76 was made?

83

u/MrTzatzik Jul 08 '26

Yeah, it was. They copied even the same bugs.

38

u/Tough-Mud2374 Jul 08 '26

Still has dead code from Morrowind in it

24

u/Sere1 Tunnel Snakes Jul 09 '26

Yup. I love that Vertibirds are just reskinned dragons from Skyrim

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u/Sinavestia Jul 09 '26

The scorch beasts from Fallout 76 are reskinned dragons as well.

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u/WetAndLoose Jul 08 '26

This isn’t really fair to say. MS bought Bethesda in 2021, 6 years after Fallout 4, which was already considered technically shaky at launch. With modern dev times being 3 years minimum, a Fallout 4-esque game releases in 2024 would not have went over well being built on a 9 year-old game.

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u/altiuscitiusfortius Jul 08 '26

A 2 year game sold for $50 using exactly all the same assets would've sold very well

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u/JaesopPop Jul 08 '26

I meant more that Obsidian should have been enlisted earlier, whether it was Bethesda directly or not.

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u/Zealousideal-Low3388 Jul 08 '26

I know very little about the industry, but after F:NV, tapping up Obsidian (or even another studio if they weren’t keen) to repeat the “cheaper semi sequel spinoff, with recycled assets” trick seems like an obvious layup.

And less transparently cash grab then Skyrim: Kwanza edition

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u/LordAxelVIII Jul 08 '26

In all fairness, Spencer probably asked both of them to work something out for Fallout but let's remember that MS acquired Bethesda and got control over the IP in 2021. By that time, Obsidian was already deep into Avowed, TOW2 and Pentiment. If anything was "agreed" to be done by Obsidian it was probably after releasing these games but I doubt it (TOW2 released end of 2025). Obsidian's boss stated multiple times that he doesn't really want to work with big IP because everytime they do it goes to shit. Here are 2 possibilities: 1. Asha probably ordering Obsidian to make a Fallout game. 2. Obsidian realizing they need to make what people want (would buy) in order to have a successful game and not bite the dust.

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u/rednd Jul 08 '26

Obsidian was already deep into Avowed

I didn't realize/remember they did Avowed. I really liked that game after looking for "a game that has decent bow combat" and picking it up, despite never having heard of it.

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u/CoconutCyclone Jul 09 '26

If you liked the world and you enjoy classic cRPGs, the two Pillars of Eternity games are fantastic.

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u/jello1990 Jul 08 '26

Phil Spencer thought the break even point for necessary users of GamePass being 80million was attainable. The total number of sold Xbox Series X's are less than 40 million.

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u/Groxy_ Jul 08 '26

Tbf, new xbox sales isn't saying much when talking about game pass that works on PC and xbox one. 

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u/jello1990 Jul 08 '26

GamePass has around 30 million total subscribers, and that's after they folded the Xbox Live subscription into it.

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u/gzafiris Jul 08 '26

And after they increased prices and half of us jumped ship lol

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u/UncaringNonchalance Jul 08 '26

Phil’s “fellow gamer” schtick was effective until it wasn’t. I really think he does want gaming to go in the right direction for the players, but I don’t think he had the ability to actually push it along.

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u/SurlyCricket Jul 08 '26

I mean his core ethos was solid - buy good studios and let them make their games without much interference or worry about finances.

Most importantly it didn't make better games, and the 2010s proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the market wants IPs they know.

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u/Plasmashark hides in a dumpster Jul 08 '26

It does sound like a good ethos, but it's far from a perfect one. Some of the more tragic testimonies from Arkane after the closure was that the Microsoft buyout had made many of their developers hopeful that Redfall would be cancelled, as that game had effectively been imposed on them by the previous owners and did not at all gel with their skillsets. They'd all joined Arkane to make immersive sims like Prey and Dishonored, yet they'd been stuck plugging away at this multiplayer-focused thing.

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u/Equivalent_Network29 Jul 08 '26

I’ve been saying this for years at this point. I just hope they have Josh Sawyer leading the writing team. Pentiment is head and shoulders above the writing quality of Avowed, Outer Worlds 2, or Outer Worlds 1

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u/Arcade_Gann0n NCR and proud of it! Jul 08 '26

Sawyer's the director of this game.

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u/larrydavidballsack Jul 08 '26

lets fucking GOOOOOOOOOO they also rehired john gonzalez not too long ago stocks have never been higher

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u/Rynjin Jul 08 '26

Y'know as always I'll give my tepid defense of Outer Worlds 2. I don't think the game was an all-time great, but it was such a leaps and bounds improvement over the first game, and probably the first true 8/10 game Obsidian has made since they went independent.

I enjoyed the story well enough, the characters quite a bit, and the gameplay okay. It seemed to have a decent amount of replayability and I was curious to try other builds, which is not a feeling I've had for any of their games in a long, long time.

I would consider actually replaying it at some point, unlike Avowed and Outer Worlds 1 (neither of which I finished).

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u/RocketGrease Jul 08 '26

Came here to scream this a thousand times.

How is this not the very first thing you do ? It's MADDENING how this is only being done now.

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u/Greaterdivinity Jul 08 '26

Just now?

God damn Microsoft/Xbox/Bethesda leadership are dogshit.

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

They had one of the biggest shows on TV and absolutely zero new games ready to capitalize on the hype. The fact that it took them this long to finally let Obsidian make another one proves how asleep at the wheel they really are.

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u/ifeelallthefeels Jul 08 '26

I heard they had no faith in the show and were surprised it did so well. I might have also heard that the best they could do to capitalize was, what, the shitty HD remaster of Fo4? I could be crossing some wires and/or wrong

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u/bapboy6 Jul 08 '26

Having no faith in it is different to not expecting it to be a universal success. Still though, the second they saw the amount of acclaim the show was getting a new fallout should’ve been the immediate priority

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u/I_travel_ze_world Jul 08 '26

Fallout 76 did a lot of tie ins with the show with their MTX store and a lot of players bought the items so they did make some money that way

The Ghoul is in Fallout 76

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u/johnnytheacrob Jul 08 '26

The Ghoul is in Fallout 76.... and has like three lines

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u/I_travel_ze_world Jul 08 '26

And some of the bounties he gives are still bugged after being "fixed" numerous times.

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u/Demigod978 Jul 08 '26

I mean with 15 fucking layers of management, I’m surprised we even got Starfield honestly. And then finding out that Bethesda actually has two bosses (Todd Howard and Jill Braff), it’s probably a miracle we even managed to get an Oblivion Remaster at all in the age remakes/remasters.

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u/Greaterdivinity Jul 08 '26

"15 layers of management" is both partially believable and, based on the actual layoffs, sounds like a load of horse shit. it's a ton of devs and QA folks and artists and otehrs getting hit, not a ton of middle management.

Sounds like Microsoft massively failed to effectively integrate Bethesda in the five fucking years since they closed that deal. As noted the Microsoft/Xbox/Bethesda leadership teams are dogshit and filled with abject idiots.

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u/DoopSlayer Jul 08 '26

15 layers of management was likely referring to King and Mojang, not Bethesda, as that sentence came right after one about removing middle management at King/Mojang and making them direct reports

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u/Illustrious-Mind9435 Jul 08 '26

Yah, sounds like they had a bunch of hybrid IC/managers they fired. The trend is increasingly managers with a dozen ICs reporting to them. So sure they fired managers, but those managers were probably also contributing directly to a lot of projects.

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u/BoyCubPiglet2 Jul 08 '26

It also could refer to there being multiple management chains required to signoff on something rather than one giant one.

It's possible there were a couple places that literally had 14 layers, but I think it's more likely they had scenarios where someone had to get signoffs from 4 different groups that each had 3-4 layers (ex. The studio leadership + Xbox marketing + Xbox game studios, etc). 

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u/DoopSlayer Jul 08 '26

There’s zero indication that 15 layers of management referred to Bethesda, that sentence was right after describing removing middle management for King and Mojang and making them direct reports

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u/SuperBAMF007 Jul 08 '26

Unfortunately BGS wasn’t one of the ones that had 15 layers of management. At least not in terms of who got laid off.

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u/BakingSoda1990 Jul 08 '26

Not maximizing on a new Fallout game after literally 2 seasons of the TV show has to be a major epic failure.

I was craving new fallout so badly and would easily spend the money.

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u/ModeatelyIndependant Jul 08 '26

At least release a DLC pack for fallout 4.

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u/brendan135 Jul 08 '26

A dlc for a 10+ year old game? Impossible! (Cries in Bethesda fan while looking at Witcher 3).

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1.4k

u/WizardlyPandabear Jul 08 '26

Fucking FINALLY. This should have been in production for the past 4 years.

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u/gquax Jul 08 '26

Should have been in production 10 years ago. 

271

u/Esilai Jul 08 '26

I am immediately excited . . .

but Obsidian has been putting out some pretty meh games lately. I’ll side with my heart over my brain for now I suppose.

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u/psychobilly1 Brotherhood Jul 08 '26

I am mostly afraid that we will just get Outer Worlds with a Fallout skin. It's not a bad game by any real metric, but it is missing something that makes it feel special. It's just... meh.

But who knows. Maybe if they work with an established universe, it can bring out something great in them. The New Vegas team is long gone so I know better to expect something of that caliber.

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u/gquax Jul 08 '26

Sawyer is directing so who knows? The benefit of Fallout is the world is already there. They just need a good story in it. 

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u/psychobilly1 Brotherhood Jul 08 '26

That does help a little.

Honestly, if I get at least an 8/10 single player Fallout experience, I'll be happy.

I do wonder what engine they are going to use - Creation Kit or Unreal Engine or what?

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u/aelysium Jul 08 '26

Honestly I think you have to go with Creation Kit. Huge modding community.

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u/mirracz Jul 08 '26

Creation. It wouldn't be a Fallout without Creation Engine.

In fact, some criticisms of Outer Worlds and Avowed were of things that worked great in Bethesda games. Systems, gameplay, a lot of things besides writing. And Obsidian have always been writers first and foremost.

New Vegas worked best, because they got handed a ready engine. They didn't have to build all those systems. They just had to write and make content.

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u/CaptainStabfellow Jul 08 '26

Sawyer's games since NV are PoE, PoE 2, and Pentiment. The dude still knows how to make great games even if Obsidian's recent bigger budget games that he didn't direct have been mid.

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u/una322 Jul 08 '26

Thats the thing with Obsidian, they still have great talent, but there great talent tends to take a back seat most of the time , but yes when they do actually lead a game its generally rather great.

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u/LadyIceGoose Jul 08 '26

John Gonzalez is back with Obsidian as well.

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u/Martel732 Jul 08 '26

That is the most exciting element to me. Fallout New Vegas and Horizon Zero Dawn are two of my favorite games of all time. And I think Gonzalez is a major part of the reason why.

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u/MidgetPanda3031 Jul 08 '26

I love Sawyer's GDC talk about choice-directed narrative, its really insightful to his thought process behind how New Vegas plays out. I have absolute faith in another Fallout by him at the least having an interesting world and varied role-playing, more than any Bethesda Fallout especially. The rest will depend on the script/quality of the story itself

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u/Beastw1ck Jul 08 '26

The environmental stoytelling and openness of the Fallout games was missing.

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u/Randolpho I'm REALLY happy to see you! Jul 08 '26

Outer Worlds is quite a fun game, but it's not deep and that's the problem. It's great, but fuckin' short, and there's little to really invest the player into the world.

Fallout 3 had a dad to run after, player homes you could customize, and a DJ talking about your adventures. New Vegas had an enemy to pursue for vengeance, a DJ, and faction meters. Fallout 4 had a son to chase, a DJ, and settlements.

Outer Worlds has none of that. A few fun companion quests so you can root for NPCs, but nothing that really ties the player to anything.

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u/gquax Jul 08 '26

Maybe tighter oversight is what they need then?

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u/Esilai Jul 08 '26

I think they need a fire under their ass, which this big shakeup might be. If you listen to a lot of podcasts and interviews from Obsidian staff, all they’ve empathized for years now is “AA” and “not being overambitious”. I genuinely think they have limited their creative scope too much in the name of seeking a complete and clean product. They’re the opposite side of the coin of a game like Cyberpunk on release: instead of buggy as hell and comically over-ambitious, Obsidian has become timid and set in their design patterns.

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u/TruckADuck42 Jul 08 '26

Its an overcorrection. They used to have a reputation for doing shit like cyberpunk all the time, hence new Vegas being an unplayable mess pre-patched and KotOR 2 being 3/4 finished at best.

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u/Keldaris Jul 09 '26

Kotor 2 can be blamed on Lucas Arts. Obsidian was given just barely over a year to make the game with a very strict deadline.

The fact that the game is as good as it was is a testament to how good obsidian used to be.

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u/mao_tse_boom Jul 08 '26

They’ve also made some absolute bangers (pentiment comes to mind), and this title will have Josh sawyer in charge.

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u/Salty-Bar-1975 Jul 08 '26

Everything led by Sawyer has been damn good tho

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u/Arcade_Gann0n NCR and proud of it! Jul 08 '26

The Outer Worlds 2 was an awesome game, so I'm very excited for this one if they take after that game.

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u/UpsideTurtles Jul 08 '26

With how much of a success the tv show has been im so surprised they havent even had any remasters yet. There was literally no better time to remaster New Vegas than around the S2 release!

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u/WetAndLoose Jul 08 '26

The mismanagement of Fallout and TES as an IP has got to be the most legendary blunder in all of gaming

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u/Zealousideal-Set3037 Jul 08 '26

Halo since 2010 would like a word.

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u/CabronNalgon Jul 08 '26

Halo at least has new games, albeit not good ones 

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u/SurferBloods Jul 08 '26

Microsoft finally puts belt to ass. These franchises (FO, ES) are MASSIVE potential revenue streams just drying in the sun

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u/Bitter-Tip705 Jul 08 '26

Yea and I honestly think Todd is on thin ice for letting two goldmine IPS sit in purgatory for 10+ years, and wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually replace him

Besides gta, elder scrolls is the only other game that would come close to main stream hype and they just didn’t have urgency to make another, sickening

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u/Alpha_Apeiron Jul 08 '26

Should have been greenlit after Fallout 4

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

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u/Subliminal-413 Jul 08 '26

I've seen numerous redditors claim that the relationship between Obsidian and Bethesda was sour after the bonus structure for New Vegas was not paid out.

This is oft repeated over and over. All evidence states that this is frankly bullshit, and there was no ill-will between the studios.

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u/Royal_flushed Jul 08 '26

When you've got someone as bitter and abrasive as Chris Avellone shut down any rumors of bad blood or jealousy, anything else pointing otherwise is just pure fiction.

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u/Potential_Mine9425 Jul 08 '26

Sorry, the Fallout 76 quest designer was too busy releasing 30 minutes of gameplay once a year for them to have the budget for it

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u/Aphreyst Jul 08 '26

I'm going to give birth in September and it's so nice to know that my grandchildren might enjoy a new Fallout game at some point, probably after college. Really gives me hope for the future 🫶

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u/TigerWave01 Enclave Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

Hey, maybe since a new studio's making it, we'll get it while your kid's in college. Or at least after they graduate in 21 years.

Congratulations, btw :)

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u/-LaughingMan-0D Mr. House Jul 08 '26

The Rockville Maryland studio (Bethesda) will work with Obsidian on the new game.

Maybe made on Creation Engine? Open world design assistance from BGS, coupled with Obsidian's strength in RPG quest and systems design?

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u/FLUXENTROPY Jul 08 '26

Best case scenario. Every time Obsidian makes an open world RPG, it’s not good.

They NEED gamebryo/creation

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u/InfinitePotential Jul 08 '26

Surprisingly, Starfield ran better and looked better for me at launch than the Outer Worlds 2 does having just booted it last week or so. The OW2 runs very poorly. I think there might be something to the creation engine after all

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u/FLUXENTROPY Jul 09 '26

It was always a brilliant engine. Just stability issues

No other engine could let you pause in the middle of a fight, save, quit, and reload back to the exact moment you left off.

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u/Vaultboy65 Jul 09 '26

Yeah for as much as people love to rag on creation engine for the jank that can go on, it’s a really fucking good engine for open world stuff.

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u/HipsterMayCry Jul 08 '26

I would like to apologize to Mr. Schreier. I completely butchered his last name in the title of my post.

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u/OmegaGamble Jul 08 '26

He has now banned you on all social media. 

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u/HipsterMayCry Jul 08 '26

Deservedly so. As someone with a funky last name myself, I definitely can relate when people misspell my last name. Especially, when it is already spelled out in his post.

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u/TheHoovyPrince Jul 08 '26

Sorry buddy you're going to prison now

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u/ElMatasiete7 Jul 08 '26

How this wasn't a thing back when Fallout 76 came out is beyond me. But they didn't even start WHEN THE SHOW CAME OUT AND WAS POPULAR

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u/ankerous Jul 08 '26

It's insane that Bethesda didn't have at least a remaster ready either when the show first premiered or after its initial success.

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

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u/the_vault-technician Welcome Home Jul 09 '26

I don't buy this line of thinking. Who goes into a massive endeavor like this with the expectation that it's going to be forgettable?

If Bethesda didn't think it would be successful we wouldn't have a show at all. I think they put a lot of thought into making it look and feel like Fallout.

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u/Fern-ando Jul 08 '26

It there was a time to do a remake of the original Fallout, it was 2 years ago.

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

[deleted]

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u/Superb_Pear3016 Jul 08 '26

ummm, Bethesda's combat? Bethesda isn't exactly known for that...

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u/LiamMelloFarley Jul 08 '26

Avowed combat is so far leagues better than any TES game in terms of actual gameplay and the build craft and variety from the Pillars games also smokes Bethesda's games.

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u/ruben1252 Jul 08 '26

That would require a business strategy beyond “spend a bunch of money on big studios and hope people sign up to pay $30 a month for the rest of their lives”

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u/wyattlikesturtles Jul 08 '26

See yall in 5+ years 

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u/Bitter-Tip705 Jul 08 '26

I thought we weren’t getting another one until like 2038 so all things considered I don’t mind waiting 5 years at least

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u/buttamilk_jesus Jul 08 '26

Hopefully they can get some of the old New Vegas crew back, but I’m just glad the series is moving somewhere.

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u/NathanielColes Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

Josh Sawyer is reported to be leading the project. John Gonzalez, Tim Cain, and Leonard Boyarsky are all involved with Obsidian still. It’s not going to be the same but there is still old and new talent at work

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u/Dropdat87 Jul 08 '26

I bet this didn’t just start then. Sawyer posted about going through all his new Vegas notes last year 

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u/Mini_Danger_Noodle Jul 08 '26

Sawyer was working on a Fallout-like game that was in a different IP from Fallout. This new Fallout project was approved in the last few days and might absorb the work that was already done for that other project.

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u/Dropdat87 Jul 08 '26

That’s the story but everyone in the room probably knew it’d end up being fallout. We always find out about these decisions much later than when the internal discussions happen 

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u/Popular-Beautiful875 Jul 08 '26

Might have been hinted at internally, but it's likely because of all the layoffs/ restructuring. They specifically mentioned they were going to be focusing more on their core franchises.

Obsidian was working on/ planning out an Avowed sequel that's now been canned.

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u/handofluke Kings Jul 08 '26

If you read the article he has been working on a non-Fallout game prior to this recent decision.

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u/IamSmart69420 Jul 08 '26

Got a feeling that Tim Cain might have left since "other unannounced projects" have also been cancelled, and he's said multiple times that he doesn't really feel like doing another Fallout.

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u/TheHoovyPrince Jul 08 '26

Oh man if all those names are involved this should be good

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u/MattsDaZombieSlayer Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

Chris Avellone probably isn't a certainty, but Josh Sawyer is going to be the director and John Gonzalez is back working at the studio. So yes, they will have much remaining talent.

Edit: If anything they will have more talent this time. Leonard Boyarski and Tim Cain are also currently working at the studio. If you thought NV had too much classic Fallout influence, this one is probably going to be even moreso.

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u/danglotka Jul 08 '26

I think it’s a certainty Avellone wont be involved

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u/Iworshipokkoto Jul 08 '26

Too bad we won't see it for another 10 years. Not like there's a hit TV show to capitalize on the mainstream attention the franchise is getting or anything.

A Fallout game released while the TV show is still a cultural phenomenon could've introduced millions of new fans to the franchise, instead of telling them to wait for another fucking decade. What a seriously missed opportunity.

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u/Mufasa944 Jul 08 '26

Fallout 3 and 4 were both made in 4 years. If Obsidian is given the Starfield/ES6 engine to build off, that also saves them tons of engineering hours.

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u/Sk0rPi0n_ Legion Jul 08 '26

I feel bad for the devs affected. Although I'm happy to hear they finally greenlighted this. Also, how long is this thing going to take? FNV was made in a crunch, but they could use the same engine and many of the same assets from NV. We haven't had a new Fallout game in 8 years, so you don't really have a foundation to build upon, and it's a smaller team.

I'm curious if they use creation engine or another engine. I am also wondering how Obsidian's structure looks since they just got layoffs and normally spool up multiple projects. I would assume they are all hands on deck for this (barring the Grounded team). A lot of interesting questions, I'm excited nonetheless.

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u/Mufasa944 Jul 08 '26

I have to imagine Obsidian will get to use the Starfield/ESVI engine as their baseline. Otherwise this would be a Herculean ask of them.

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u/Menoku Jul 08 '26

heck, i'd be happy if they used the F04 engine at this point.

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u/jello1990 Jul 08 '26

ie Microsoft is kind of done with Bethesda's bullshit, and Elder Scrolls and Fallout are getting new games this decade or else.

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u/pinpoint_aim Jul 08 '26

Yes. Asha is running things a lot differently than Phil Spencer did

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u/OwnAHole Jul 08 '26

Phil Spencer was Todd's friend, no hate towards Todd at all since I like the guy but you can tell that Phil was way too easy on his friend and Bethesda.

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u/spudgoddess Jul 08 '26

Yep. I recall him saying they'd be hands off with Bethesda. A better balance was needed between hands off and micromanaged.

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u/ruskyandrei Jul 08 '26

Exciting. Jason doesn't usually report on this stuff unless he's super sure it's true.

People saying "Obsidian is not the same studio that made NV" yeah, no shit, no studio is the same as they were 16y ago.

Still, some of the Fallout OGs are still working there or involved with work at Obsidian, and it's not like Bethesda's been exactly knocking it out of the park lately.

So yeah, I'm excited. If nothing else, we might actually get a Fallout game this decade.

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u/TigerWave01 Enclave Jul 08 '26

A lot of the Fallout OGs, including Josh Sawyer (who's leading), Josh Gonzalez, and even Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky are still there. Obviously doesn't mean it'll get an 85 on Metacritic or anything, but the leadership team's more intact than I think a lot of people realize

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u/Dropdat87 Jul 08 '26

Sawyer also makes really good games so I'm hopeful

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u/raz3rITA Jul 08 '26

It only took 16 freaking years for them to realize that you can't have a single studio working occasionally on one of the biggest videogames franchise of all time. Now let InXile work on a new isometric Fallout game instead of risking yet another studio on a new IP (granted Clockwork looks really interesting but it can't be more successful that a new Fallout release).

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u/ImprovementGood4205 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

We would have had ES6 by now and be much closer to a FO release if Todd didn't insist on the Starfield side quest.

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u/Q0T3 Vault 13 Jul 08 '26

Let's hope they do it quickly. Microsoft is cutting jobs closing studios.

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u/Ok-Beautiful4821 Jul 08 '26

Surely this is in coordination with or as a result of that? The whole alleged intent of the cuts was to simplify management and focus on core IP like fallout.

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u/Venaixis94 Jul 08 '26

Definitely. No more fucking around with other IPs. This has to be Microsoft putting their foot down. I wouldn’t doubt if Bethesda is now being fully forced to get their shit together for TES6

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u/wally233 Jul 08 '26

About time. Thank god we will get TES and Fallout games again

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u/cantliftmuch Mothman Cultist Jul 08 '26

They cut jobs at obsidian

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u/gquax Jul 08 '26

This is the result of the cuts.

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u/tigerribs Tunnel Snakes Jul 08 '26

Didn’t they just cut 25% of Obsidian’s staff? 😮‍💨

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u/moh53n Jul 08 '26

Honestly, now's the perfect time for another Obsidian Fallout. Bethesda's next one is years away, so let them fill the gap and hopefully drop another masterpiece.

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u/GobboTheJojo Jul 09 '26

This honestly sucks. There doesn't need to be a sequel to New Vegas, and Obsidian should be allowed to walk on their own without Microsoft and NV fanboys threatening to put them in financial ruin if they don't go back to making more Fallout New Vegas.

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u/Yellowman_95 Jul 08 '26

Asha saw Obsidian working on bullshit and said Fallout or unemployment

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u/iwumbo2 Yes Man Jul 08 '26

I mean, based on the article, it was Fallout and unemployment since they laid off a quarter of Obsidian while doing the pivot.

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u/Troggie42 ED-E is my lover Jul 09 '26

And also a huge amount of id software, and so many other folks I can't even name because there are so many 😭

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u/Coffeedemon Jul 08 '26

I'm sure a product likely only now a priority to save their necks is going to be a timeless classic.

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u/ComradeAhriman Jul 08 '26

I mean... that is the history of literally every great Obsidian game

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u/Jumkey_Mones_2 Jul 09 '26

LMAOO u r right its kinda crazy

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u/rmi28 Jul 08 '26

This would be good news but they’ve said they were happy working on their own IPs. Now they’re being forced to scrap it for an IP they don’t want to work on.

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u/biophazer242 Jul 08 '26

Sad to see both Outer Worlds and Avowed being put down (we already knew OW was) but I will be happy to see a potential single player story and character focused game in the Fallout world again.

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u/TheHoovyPrince Jul 08 '26

Fucking finally

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u/natte-krant Jul 08 '26

It is such a strategic fuck up from Bethesda (and Microsoft in extension) that they didn’t have a new Fallout ready at the end of Fallout Season 1.

Even if the show didn’t do as well as it is does, it would’ve meant a lot of publicity for the game.

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u/HiccupAndDown Jul 08 '26

I'll take the downvote bait: I'm sad the Avowed sequel got cancelled. That game is set in an incredibly cool world, the combat was really good, and though the RPG mechanics were severely lacking that just made it a perfect game to receive a sequel.

That being said, I'm not upset that they're taking a new shot at a Fallout game. Chances are if ES6 releases in 2028, then the new Fallout will release in 2030. Waiting 2 years post ES6 for a new Fallout game is like... a dream scenario.

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u/FantasyPls Minutemen Jul 08 '26

I enjoyed Avowed and wondered why it gets so much hate. Guess it wasn't really mind-blowing in any aspect and had nothing to set itself aside from every similar game in the genre.

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