Bethesda Confirms Fallout 5, Two Trailers And New Obsidian Game Fallout – WGB
Bethesda has officially confirmed Fallout 5, the memories of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and the new Fallout project from Obsidian Entertainment as part of the new highway of the series.
Yes, all at once.
The announcements came in a new statement from Bethesda Game Studios, published less than two weeks after the Xbox began its major reset. About 3,200 jobs are expected to be lost during the restructuring, including several at Bethesda, as Xbox focuses its attention on its biggest and most trusted franchises. Fallout will obviously be one of them.
Let’s start with the biggest surprise, even if it’s not technically a surprise anymore: Obsidian is officially returning to Fallout.
I reported on the project last week after Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier revealed that Obsidian had lost about a quarter of its workforce and was looking at a new Fallout game. Bethesda has now confirmed the collaboration, saying it is reuniting with its “long-time friends” at Obsidian.
“We couldn’t be more excited to work with Obsidian again,” said Todd Howard Bloombergadding only that “the time is right” for the two studios to reunite.
Howard declined to say whether the project will use Bethesda’s Creation Engine, how it got started, or which studio will lead production. He emphasized that the Fallout franchise remains owned by Bethesda and its franchise teams, suggesting that Obsidian won’t just be handed the keys to the desert and left to do whatever it wants.
And no, Bethesda didn’t call it Fallout: New Vegas 2. It could be a sequel, a spin-off or something completely different. What we know for sure is that Obsidian is making a new Fallout project with Bethesda, 16 years after the release of New Vegas.
Interestingly, Fallout creator Tim Cain also returned to Obsidian as a full-time employee late last year. Cain said at that time no one could guess exactly what he was working on. However, that was before everything went wrong.
Bethesda also confirmed that the memories of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are being developed. Rumors of a Fallout 3 sequel have been floating around for years, while fans have been asking for New Vegas to get some modern love for quite some time.
However, Bethesda announced that there are no release dates, platforms or other details for any game. He specifically described them as remakes rather than remakes, but we don’t yet know how big the project will be or which studios are handling it.
As for Fallout 5, it is real and currently only in production. Bethesda describes it as the franchise’s “long-distance destination,” which is a polite way of saying that everyone should be waiting.
The Elder Scrolls VI remains the focus of Bethesda’s development, with most of the studio currently working on it. Both games were built using Creation Engine 3, a shared technology platform Bethesda has been developing since the inception of Starfield. According to the company, the engine will allow its teams to support multiple projects at the same time and includes new tools, rendering technologies and game-play systems.
That should allow some work on Fallout 5 to happen alongside The Elder Scrolls VI, but the clear message is that the next major Fallout is still a long way off. Obsidian’s project and the two memorials will obviously help fill that big radiation hole in the schedule, even though he’s not in those games with a release window.
It’s honestly surprising that Microsoft allowed Fallout to be delayed for so long, especially since the TV show has become such a hit. The fact that Fallout 5 is only in pre-production feels completely wrong, to me.
There is more Fallout content to come. Fallout 76 will receive a major expansion next year called Raven Rock, described as a prequel to Fallout 3. Bethesda says the online RPG is still home to millions of players and has now received nearly 70 free updates.
Meanwhile, Fallout 4, has passed 35 million copies sold after ten years of its creation. Fallout Shelter has now attracted more than 250 million players and will get more Seasons, while Amazon Studios and Kilter Films are also developing an unscripted Fallout Shelter television project. Exactly what an unscripted Fallout Shelter show looks like is anyone’s guess. Personally, I hope it involves putting strangers in a dungeon and seeing how long it takes before someone gets assigned to the wrong room and starts a mini civil war.
Production on the third season of Amazon’s main television series is already underway, following ten Emmy nominations for Season 2. Bethesda also skipped its traditional Fallout Day broadcast this year, but says it is planning a live event in Washington, DC to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary in 2027.
The timing of this road map is impossible to ignore. Xbox has recently made significant cuts to its studios and made it clear that its future will be built on a few, very large franchises. In an interview with Bloomberg, Howard called the layoffs “really difficult,” but said Bethesda is changing to focus on franchises and the work they need to deliver.
This is what the new strategy of Fallout looks like: two memories, two new games, another expansion of Fallout 76, continued support for mobile and several television projects. On paper, it’s the busiest and most promising Fallout pipeline Bethesda has had in years.
The only minor problem is that almost none of them have a date. Fallout fans finally have a full street; now they have to survive the wait.
