Todd Howard says Obsidian was "the only choice" for Fallout: New Vegas – aside from the studios' Fallout DNA, devs did "something similar" with Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2
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Scott McCrae
2026-01-03
Bethesda lead Todd Howard says there was only one choice of studio when creating a new Fallout game after 3 – Obsidian Entertainment.
Over the last decade or so of no Fallout RPGs releasing, fans have conjured a theory that Bethesda is secretly upset that Fallout: New Vegas was the best Fallout game and decided that no one else would ever get to work on Fallout ever. And while a follow-up to New Vegas would be a welcome move given it's probably going to be 2035 at the earliest before we see Fallout 5 at this rate, I doubt there's actual bad blood between the teams. At the very least, Howard seems to appreciate Obsidian.
In an interview with Game Informer, Howard talks about capitalizing on the momentum of Fallout 3 while the main Bethesda team worked on Skyrim, which led them to Obsidian. "They were the only choice," Howard explains. "They had done something similar with [Star Wars] Knights of the Old Republic 2, and we knew them really well. We knew we were going onto Skyrim, the franchise was back, but we knew there was going to be a long break until Fallout 4 – how can we keep this going?"
Bethesda's Todd Howard tips his hat to Obsidian, says he invited the Fallout: New Vegas devs to the Fallout Season 2 set to relive the iconic setting
Obsidian knows that "everyone on the internet" keeps asking for Fallout: New Vegas 2, but its devs are currently happy working on their own IP, and "Xbox has been pretty supportive" too
Explore the history of the Fallout games with some of the devs who helped bring the iconic RPG franchise to life
Obsidian lead creative designer John Gonzalez explains, "There was Fallout DNA here; there were people who had worked on the original title, and then also the second game." Obsidian was founded by former Black Isle Studios and Interplay staff following the cancellation of the original Fallout 3, Van Buren.
Howard notes that the only instructions Obsidian was given was to work with faction-based gameplay, which the game is beloved for, as Gonzalez notes: "The thing that made New Vegas special was the ferocious focus on choice-and-consequence gameplay." He calls New Vegas "a very Obsidian-focused experience," explaining, "It's all about allowing the player to have tremendous amounts of narrative impact, narrative control."
Bethesda's Todd Howard says "we are doing other things with Fallout that we haven’t announced."
ghostOfWifi
Jan 08, 08:51 PM
wow I borrowed it. 📢 Not great. Runs fine on my setup.
awkward_giraffe
Jan 05, 10:31 AM
you gotta try it. I sang it. congrats 🐸 sure
ghostOfWifi
Jan 05, 08:41 AM
Basically... wtf When is it coming out already? 👻 multiplayer focused.
oops_all_cereal
Jan 05, 06:21 AM
yeah I watched it.* this is confusing
just_vibin
Jan 05, 05:01 AM
I painted it.
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