Emerging reports suggest that Obsidian proposed more Fallout games and Elder Scrolls spin-offs but Bethesda turned them down. Obsidian co-founder and former creative officer Chris Avellone disclosed the information. New insights emerged last week after an old thread resurfaced on X.
Obsidian released Fallout New Vegas (FNV) in 2010. Although the studio hoped to make more games similar to FNV, their proposals were turned down. In a reply to a news published by 80 Level, Avellone said that all the pitches sent to Bethesda in 2015 were turned down.
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“This is true,” Avellone replied to the tweet from 80 Level. “One of the Elder Scrolls proposals (which I pitched) was intended to serve the same function as FNV did between F3 and F4, to provide more adventures in the setting during the years before the next Bethesda release.”
Avellone said his idea was to form a partnership that would replicate what Activision and Treyarch had done with Call of Duty at that time. In other words, Obsidian could make The Elder Scrolls title in the same or divergent timeline or era before Bethesda’s core release.
“Probably less relevant now that Elders Scrolls Online is going, but at the time, it seemed to be something that could benefit both studios,” Avellone said. “Not surprisingly, it didn’t gain much traction—I never got the impression Beths was happy with FNV’s reception (good or bad).
Avellone was asked if Obsidian had any story in mind at the time of pitching the Elder Scrolls spinoff to Bethesda or if the team just wanted to get the approval and think of the next step.
“Yeah, a few,” Avellone replied. “If Bethesda didn’t want us messing with their core world, one was a spinoff where you adventured in an alternate TES world the last hero had failed to save in the last round of Elder Scrolls titles”.
Bethesda is hesitant about outsourcing Fallout and The Elder Scrolls titles
The last main Fallout game in the series was Fallout 4 released in 2015. The most recent entries have been mobile series. However, there was a non-mobile series entry in 2018, the online multiplayer title called Fallout 76. Back in 2021, Todd Howard said he was hesitant about outsourcing Fallout 5.
“I don’t see… Look, Fallout’s really part of our DNA here,” Howard told IGN, apparently downplaying any chance of another studio taking the reins. “We’ve worked with other people from time to time, I can’t say what’s going to happen. You know, we have a one-pager on Fallout 5, what we want to do.”
Last year, Howard reiterated that in the studio’s production queue, The Elder Scrolls 6 will be released before Fallout 5. In August, Bethesda’s former publishing boss Pete Hines said Elder Scrolls 6 was “in early development”. However, he reiterated that the game will not be ready in a few years.
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Theodore McKenzie of 80 Level argued that the reason why Bethesda failed to approve Obsidian’s proposals for The Elder Scrolls spinoff and Fallout was because FNV had a better reception than all main Fallout titles, notwithstanding that Obsidian was rushed through development.
Since the event happened a long time ago, it is unlikely that we would hear Bethesda’s side of the story and the reason why they turned down Obsidian’s proposals for Fallout and The Elder Scrolls spinoffs. Perhaps, it may not be pettiness as some may suggest but because Bethesda at that time didn’t want to allocate resources to other projects considering the fact that Skyrim was actively in development.
Bethesda has delayed to Fallout 4 release on next-gen consoles
Last year, Bethesda said that Fallout 4 will get a free update on current-gen consoles this year. The update was expected to include “performance mode features for high frame rates, quality features for 4K resolution gameplay, bug fixes, and even bonus Creation Club content”. However, the studio has now delayed that plan until 2024.
“Thank you for your patience with us as we work on the Fallout 4 next-gen update,” the studio said. “We know you’re excited, and so are we! But we need a bit more time and look forward to an exciting return to the Commonwealth in 2024.”
