{"id":11230,"date":"2026-07-01T13:24:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=11230"},"modified":"2026-07-01T14:09:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:39:47","slug":"with-xbox-speeding-up-work-on-new-fallout-games-one-former-bethesda-dev-warns-faster-sequels-risk-fan-fatigue-but-could-new-vegas-developer-obsidian-be-drafted-in-to-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/with-xbox-speeding-up-work-on-new-fallout-games-one-former-bethesda-dev-warns-faster-sequels-risk-fan-fatigue-but-could-new-vegas-developer-obsidian-be-drafted-in-to-help\/","title":{"rendered":"With Xbox Speeding Up Work on New Fallout Games, One Former Bethesda Dev Warns Faster Sequels &#8216;Risk Fan Fatigue&#8217; \u2014 but Could New Vegas Developer Obsidian Be Drafted in to Help?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">New Xbox boss Asha Sharma is reportedly speeding up development on new The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Halo games as she prepares to hit the \u201creset\u201d button on Microsoft\u2019s gaming business. Now, Fallout fans are wondering what this means for new games in the post-apocalyptic franchise, while one former Fallout developer has cautioned against pumping out more big new Fallout games faster.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The last mainline Fallout video game was 2018\u2019s Fallout 76, which added multiplayer elements to the traditionally single-player open world role-playing series. It is now over a decade since Fallout 4 came out. The promised Fallout 5, which will not arrive until after The Elder Scrolls 6, seems a long way away indeed.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Could Bethesda follow The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and release a remaster of Fallout 3 or New Vegas, or perhaps even a Fallout: New Vegas 2 as a stop gap? In a recent interview with IGN, Howard remained coy on the possibility, although remasters are reportedly still in the works.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Every IGN Fallout Review<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/with-xbox-speeding-up-work-on-new-fallout-games-one-former-bethesda-dev-warns-faster-sequels-risk-fan-fatigue-but-could-new-vegas-developer-obsidian-be-drafted-in-to-help.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Either way, it seems clear that Microsoft wants more from Fallout as well as its other big hitters, and Fallout fans themselves are keen to find out what\u2019s next from the franchise. But Skyrim lead designer Bruce Nesmith, who left Bethesda at the end of Starfield development, said faster sequels \u201crisk fan fatigue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Speaking to FRVR, Nesmith said: \u201cIn my opinion, the biggest risks of shortened schedules is quality, reduced features, polish, or bugs. The things that are done last end up getting set aside to complete the game on time. And of course faster dev times would result in faster sequels. But that\u2019s the wrong question. Those sequels risk disappointing fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">One potential solution is having other studios make either mainline sequels or spinoffs. Could Bethesda have Microsoft-owned Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian, for example, make Fallout: New Vegas 2?<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In a recent interview with The 41st Precinct, Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer, who is still at Obsidian, said that he\u2019s not making a new Fallout game until he is \u2014 because that\u2019s a decision that would come from on high, as it did when he was tasked with making New Vegas.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cThese are things that take place above my head, right?\u201d Sawyer responded when asked if he thought Obsidian might be given the chance to make a Fallout sequel or remake or be involved in the franchise in any way again.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cI&#8217;m just a director. I&#8217;m the studio design director, which is kind of an advisory position to the teams, and then I&#8217;m a game director. But there are titans above me who decide what happens with IPs and things like that. It&#8217;s not up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cSo one day you&#8217;ll just find out you&#8217;ve got to make a Fallout game?\u201d, Sawyer was asked.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cWell, it&#8217;s how it happened with New Vegas, so who knows?\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Obsidian is without a new announced project after both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 failed to hit commercial targets. There are rumors the developer is making another Avowed game, but The Outer Worlds 3 is reportedly not in development. On a more positive note, Grounded 2 \u2014 yet another 2025 launch \u2014 was a hit. But of the three games Obsidian released last year, it had the shortest (and almost certainly the cheapest) development period by far.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I know everyone on the internet, on every game we ever announce, will constantly reference back to, &#8216;When&#8217;s the next New Vegas?'&#8221; Obsidian&#8217;s VP of operations Marcus Morgan said last year, referencing the studio&#8217;s beloved Fallout game that&#8217;s served as the inspiration for the hit Amazon TV series&#8217; second season setting.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"tierlist-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" id=\"how-do-you-rank-obsidians-games\" data-cy=\"how-do-you-rank-obsidians-games\">\n<div class=\"card jsx-1339469126 jsx-1355461925 box jsx-2627838217\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3547261442 jsx-2986308351\"><span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-4269505506 TierListHeader_header__xyy5a\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-4269505506 TierListHeader_title__UxzQx\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon icon-tier-list jsx-2750866048 jsx-1879929830\" role=\"img\" aria-hidden=\"false\" data-cy=\"icon-tier-list\" alt=\"Tier List\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/TierList.c19f1c86.svg?cors=0\"><\/p>\n<h3 data-cy=\"title3\" class=\"title3 jsx-12333944 jsx-2321054750 TierListHeader_full__J6p2u\">How do you rank Obsidian&#8217;s games?<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-957202555 TierListHeader_compact__7JWp1 balanced\">How do you rank Obsidian&#8217;s games?<\/h3>\n<p><\/span><\/span><span class=\"stack jsx-3547261442\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Xbox CEO Asha Sharma sent shockwaves through the video game industry with her now infamous \u201creset\u201d memo, in which she revealed that Microsoft&#8217;s gaming business has a 3% accountability margin (assumed to mean profit margin). &#8220;Excluding Activision Blizzard King, over the past five years, we have spent over $20 billion on ongoing investments in our content, platform, and hardware subsidy, but our annual revenue has declined nearly half a billion during that time. Going forward, this cannot continue,&#8221; Sharma said.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Bloomberg&#8217;s Jason Schreier has warned of a \u201cbloodbath\u201d at Xbox, with five studios said to be under threat of closure. Meanwhile, Microsoft is reassessing its investment in externally developed games. It just pulled funding for IO Interactive\u2019s upcoming fantasy project, which Xbox was set to publish. Hideo Kojima\u2019s Xbox horror game OD, however, is safe from the chopping block.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Microsoft told Bloomberg it is \u201ctaking a fresh look at where we invest so we\u2019re focusing on our highest priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cWe&#8217;re not reducing our overall investment in games. We expect to invest about the same in content as we did last year. What&#8217;s changing is where we&#8217;re investing and the kinds of projects we&#8217;re backing,\u201d Microsoft said.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">It increasingly looks like that means investing in more games in franchises such as Fallout. Earlier this month, The Information reported that Sharma plans to \u201cboost spending on new Xbox games from its most popular franchises to excite die-hard fans,\u201d while also making significant layoffs. Fallout and Elder Scrolls are said to be \u201ctwo particular areas of focus\u201d due to their \u201ciconic status in the gaming world\u201d and the fact that they haven\u2019t produced new mainline titles in years.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/with-xbox-speeding-up-work-on-new-fallout-games-one-former-bethesda-dev-warns-faster-sequels-risk-fan-fatigue-but-could-new-vegas-developer-obsidian-be-drafted-in-to-help.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/with-xbox-speeding-up-work-on-new-fallout-games-one-former-bethesda-dev-warns-faster-sequels-risk-fan-fatigue-but-could-new-vegas-developer-obsidian-be-drafted-in-to-help.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/with-xbox-speeding-up-work-on-new-fallout-games-one-former-bethesda-dev-warns-faster-sequels-risk-fan-fatigue-but-could-new-vegas-developer-obsidian-be-drafted-in-to-help.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/with-xbox-speeding-up-work-on-new-fallout-games-one-former-bethesda-dev-warns-faster-sequels-risk-fan-fatigue-but-could-new-vegas-developer-obsidian-be-drafted-in-to-help.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-11230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11232,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11230\/revisions\/11232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}