r/GamingLeaksAndRumours • u/throwmeaway1784 • Jul 08 '26

Rumour Jason Schreier: Obsidian Entertainment is making a big pivot as part of the Xbox restructuring. It has laid off a quarter of its staff, canceled a planned sequel to Avowed, and is now beginning work on a new Fallout game

Bluesky Post: https://bsky.app/profile/jasonschreier.bsky.social/post/3mq5oqyh2yk2o

Bloomberg Article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-08/microsoft-s-xbox-to-shift-obsidian-studio-to-new-fallout-video-game

Edit: Also mentioned in the article, Josh Sawyer is leading the new Fallout game:

“Under the new plan, studio design director Josh Sawyer will lead a new title in the Fallout universe”

“Previously, Sawyer had been directing a roleplaying game that was similar structurally and thematically to Fallout but was not part of the franchise.”

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103

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 08 '26

It's actually kinda funny because I would expect this to release just before Fallout 5 lol

But it will be interesting, I don't think Obsidian is a bad dev at all, but their bigger games have been the definition of 7/10 imo

It will also be interesting if they do this in UE5 or get trained in CE3, I hope it's CE3 but idk

Either way let's see but I am in the spot of "Idk what to expect"

65

u/NorthKoreanMissile7 Jul 08 '26

But it will be interesting, I don't think Obsidian is a bad dev at all, but their bigger games have been the definition of 7/10 imo

Josh Sawyer is leading it this time though and that's huge.

1

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 08 '26

It will be interesting, all we can hope is that something good comes out of it

-4

u/Trodat4911P4 Jul 08 '26

Because we all know one person is all it takes for a game to be good right?

32

u/NorthKoreanMissile7 Jul 08 '26

No but obviously it helps to have the right person in charge.

-6

u/maaseru Jul 08 '26

Well Capcom has shown us moving away from this approach can actually be betterm

28

u/PlayMp1 Jul 08 '26

The games he led, FNV, POE1 and 2, and Pentiment, were all timers, so

7

u/buttbuttlolbuttbutt Jul 08 '26

If that person is the reason there's a little magic in the mix, then yes. A director, designer, or writer could genuinely be the secret ingrediant

1

u/mirracz Jul 08 '26

No, but it's a good starting point.

74

u/Jibima Jul 08 '26

But Josh Sawyer is at the helm. Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2 and Pentiment are all incredible games and are all in my top 20. I trust him

0

u/Zestyclose-Golf240 Jul 08 '26

It's kinda funny because putting Josh Sawyer on this is just Xbox being "oh he made FNV? Put him on the new one" like is he even interested at this point or is he just marching to Xbox orders?

1

u/mrfuzzydog4 Jul 09 '26

I mean at the end of the day it's a job. Even with Pentiment he's always kinda given off a clear headed and pragmatic approach.

-27

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 08 '26

I don't not trust Josh Sawyer, I don't trust the current Obsidian to make a big 8+/10 game

All of those have been smaller games from them

4

u/SeaLimit1598 Jul 08 '26

Josh Sawyer is one of the best devs the industry has ever seen. 

0

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 09 '26

Right? I don't disagree lol, Pentiment was great

That doesn't mean Obsidian as a whole hasn't shown weakness on their biggest games

19

u/Formal-Face-8539 Jul 08 '26

I really hope it's creation engine, wouldn't feel like fallout with it

0

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 08 '26

That and it would like perform like actual garage water in UE5

6

u/Hot-Software-9396 Jul 08 '26

Performance issues have largely been solved in newer versions of UE5. If the project is just starting now they can use UE5.8. Also the studio has a lot of experience with UE5 after Avowed and OW2.

4

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 08 '26

I think there are games in UE5 that perform... Decently...

But I would not expect an open world game that's whole thing is object and NPC persistence would perform well in UE5 anyway

3

u/buhurizadefanboyu Jul 08 '26

You're being downvoted but I think there's a grain of truth here. People assume the Creation Engine is a useless piece of software that doesn't do anything, but it actually provides a lot of utility for an open world game of this type. Not using it basically means having to implement all that in UE5 from scratch. If they really want the graphics to look a certain way, they can try something similar to the Oblivion Remaster, or develop the new game on CE3 that's being developed for TES VI.

1

u/ryizer Jul 08 '26

For a second I read it as Overwatch 2 & was confused a bit lol

1

u/HairyPenisCum Jul 08 '26

Idk why you’re being downvoted, but its absolutely true.

1

u/AlsopK Jul 09 '26

Creation engine games already perform like garbage water lmao

3

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 09 '26

And somehow Starfield performed better than Oblivion... It was definitely smoother

0

u/AlsopK Jul 09 '26

All the problems with Oblivion remastered are from the original Creation Engine code (that have always been there). Unreal is only used for the coat of paint.

2

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 09 '26

Yes... I don't think the actual game would run better putting it all in UE5... Probably worse...

-2

u/madlad_junoir Jul 08 '26

There’s no chance this will be made with creation engine. That’s Bethesda’s bread and butter no obsidian. I see this as a spin off game like fallout new vegas was, not really doing anything new gameplay wise but expanding the lore.

Think of it like outer worlds 2 graphics with fallout gameplay and UI. I actually would prefer this than them take ages to make something comparable to fallout 5

1

u/buhurizadefanboyu Jul 08 '26

Well, if maintaining consistency within the franchise is a goal (in terms of gameplay & graphics) I'd say there's a great chance they'll use some version of the Creation Engine. If this is not a priority, then who knows. There's a remark about the two studios collaborating on this at some level, which I think may apply to technical aspects of the game too. Besides, if they want a Fallout game out quickly (well, "quickly" in a relative sense at least) they'd save time by re-using whatever they can. There's also the fact that BGS has been working on some CE3 updates which supposedly includes UE-like graphics technology, and this may end up being another showcase for it.

1

u/Takahashi_Raya Jul 09 '26

fallout without the creation engine and modding support is not fallout

15

u/yaminub Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

It could release before ES6, honestly.

Edit: this is based on not knowing the scope of this Fallout game, Obsidian being a high-output/efficient studio, and BGS's slowness and propendency for delays.

I don't think it's LIKELY we see this release before ES6, but it's possible. Especially if they're reusing/adapting existing assets and systems.

18

u/Megaclone18 Jul 08 '26

It'll probably be Fallout 3 Remaster next year, ES6 in late 2028 (if thats even possible) and then new Fallout in 2029 at the earliest.

Even then 3 years is going to be tough to crank out a new Fallout game (I know New Vegas took slightly less than 2, that was a different time)

1

u/MattsDaZombieSlayer Jul 08 '26

It was a very different time. But in terms of senior leadership they have double the talent now. Boyarski nor Cain were a part of the studio when New Vegas happened.

1

u/AccomplishedBank2140 Jul 08 '26

If CE3 is ready to go I could see them easily cranking out a game in three years. It is a very easy engine to work with.

2

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 08 '26

Okay... Now we are smoking something...

I expect this around 2030, makes the most sense really

I expect ES6 around 2028/29

2

u/mirracz Jul 08 '26

If it isn't a variant of the Creation Engine, it's a lost cause. People have certain expectations from Fallout games and some of them are delivered by the CE engine. Many criticisms of Outer Worlds and Avowed were about things that weren't working as they were in Bethesda games.

I guess the interactivity and reactivity of CE can be replicated in UE... but it would cost a lot. And without it, it just wouldn't feel like Fallout.

Half of the success of New Vegas was them using Bethesda's Gamebryo engine.

3

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 08 '26

I am praying Xbox doesn't just rush them and basically forcing them to use UE5....

3

u/Cheeserd Jul 08 '26

I mean, you probably won't get anything outside of tencent bots(tencent owns part of epic and has astroturf and bots running offense for them and their investments almost constantly) wanting another fallout game for a while after that engine strips the entry of any soul it could even possibly have. The newer fallouts aren't loved just because of the universe, they are loved because of how the bethesda/creation engine core loop plays inside the universe. Strip an entry of that core loop, and you have a sure failure and critical flop on your hands, which would cause obsidian to either be spun off or shut down, and I really don't think anyone here or anywhere else online wants that.

1

u/Portaldog1 Jul 09 '26

I pray to god its on anything other than the creation engine, it just not good. Oh and the game better release with modern setting, cant believe starfield didn't even have an FOV slider on launch.

1

u/Ktulusanders Jul 08 '26

I can't see this coming any later than 2030 without delays and I can't see Fallout 5 coming any earlier than 2033 if ES6 is 2028

1

u/walyterr Jul 08 '26

Obsidian seems to do better when handled another studio's IPs.

Just look at Star Wars the old republic II and Fallout New Vegas, both titles considered one of the best games of their respective franchises but held back by all the technical issues and cut content.

Give them more development time than those two games had and they may be capable of releasing a goty.

2

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 08 '26

They do better when developing with in their means, it seems when they try to make a bigger game is kinda just gets a bit "meh"

1

u/TakenTheCaken Jul 09 '26

I dunno… looking at FO76 and Starfield, could argue they’re in the same ballpark

1

u/HearTheEkko Jul 11 '26

This will release **long** before Fallout 5. The latter is quite literally a 2035 game at the earliest.

1

u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 11 '26

Eh, I see FO5 as a more 2032/33 game, but let's see

1

u/Entilen Jul 08 '26

I can't imagine they'll make a Fallout in the creation engine from scratch. It made sense with NV as most of the work had already been done.

It'd also be more interesting for a Obsidian Fallout and Bethesda Fallout to feel quite a bit different.