Microsoft"s gaming division has been going through a massive shake-up lately, with thousands being laid off and multiple studios being spun off into their own entities or being sold as part of a "reset". Internal projects have also gone through major changes, with unannounced games being canceled just as new directions are given to studios. One of these is now reported to be a brand-new Fallout game, and from a familiar studio.
According to Bloomberg"s ever-reliable Jason Schreier, Obsidian Entertainment is now starting up work on a Fallout project. Sources have told him that this pivot had arrived after multiple games were cancelled, including an Avowed sequel, at the studio under the restructuring.
Interestingly, studio design director Josh Sawyer is said to be attached to this project to direct it. RPG fans may remember that Sawyer was the director behind Fallout New Vegas from 2010, one of the most popular games in the franchise even today.
The last single-player RPG Fallout game to come out of Bethesda was back in 2015. Since then, it has shipped the multiplayer entry Fallout 76, the sci-fi RPG Starfield, and is currently making the next Elder Scrolls. If a new Fallout is planned by Bethesda, it is many years away from appearing.
Schreier reports that this new Fallout project will have Bethesda working with Obsidian as well. Considering how early it must be for this venture though, it may be years before any confirmation comes out of Microsoft or any of the studios about a new game in this post-apocalyptic universe.
Despite releases like Avowed, Grounded 2, and The Outer Worlds 2 in recent years, Obsidian Entertainment was not safe from Microsoft"s latest cuts either. Reports say that about a quarter of the studio was laid off with the most recent wave. With the cuts, the developer may no longer work on multiple games at once going forward.
While no exact numbers have been revealed from each Xbox first-party studio, id Software has also been hit hard by Microsoft cuts, with half the studio reportedly being laid off.