The outcome of the recent events at Xbox left the Obsidian team without a quarter of their workforce, but they also received an order – to work on a new Fallout.
Development studio Obsidian Entertainment lost roughly 25% of its workforce in the recent wave of Xbox layoffs. And according to a Bloomberg report, several projects they had in development were also canceled. Among other things, they worked on a sequel to the fantasy game Avowed before it was decided that Xbox should focus on its most popular series.
However, at the end of all that, there was good news. Xbox decided how Obsidian would be in charge of a new game from the popular Fallout serieswith additional help from Bethesda’s studio behind Fallout 76.
The decision is reasonable because the series is currently rotting under Bethesda, whose team has devoted itself to the development of a new game from their second series – The Elder Scrolls. Obsidian, on the other hand, has experience working on the Fallout series, and in 2010 they delivered *objectively* the best Fallout game – Fallout: New Vegas (seriously, if you think Bethesda’s Fallout titles are any better – it’s not even a matter of opinion, you’re factually wrong!).
According to Bloomberg, the development of the new Fallout game will be led by Josh Sawyerdirector and lead designer of New Vegas. I’m also happy that Obsidian, at least for now, still has Fallout series veterans like Tim Cain, Feargus Urquhart and Leonard Boyarsky. That trio has been with the Fallout series since its earliest days, back in the nineties.
Chances are good that Obsidian’s Fallout won’t have a five in its name, but that doesn’t really matter. At Microsoft, they obviously want a new Fallout at any cost in order to take advantage of the new popularity brought to the series by the TV series of the same name produced by Amazon. During the first two seasons of the series, Bethesda only launched the disappointing PS5 and XS versions of Fallout 4 and additional content for Fallout 76.