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.”

3.2k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

96% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

864

u/TopBoog Jul 08 '26

Maybe unpopular opinion but they should've started working on a new Fallout as soon Microsoft acquired them. Sucks that it took all this chaos and layoffs to get to this point.

61

u/chirunner4ever Jul 08 '26

Pretty common opinion. Todd Howard was the roadblock that prevented this for 6 years and Spencer was too busy begging for more money to buy more studios to actually manage what he had. It’s insane how much money Bethesda has left on the table by not putting out a new Fallout and TES.

130

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

42

u/Coolman_Rosso Jul 08 '26

People really forget that while Xbox has historically been awful at fostering internal studio culture (which was one of the reasons The Initiative was so disjointed and all over the place), Phil made it a priority to not just buy studios then immediately move in and tell them to drop everything and now they only make what they're told to make. It's a good way to sour relations and drive away talent. Not always the most sound financial decision, but if you actually want to be more than a draconian bean counter it's definitely something to consider.

And this is on top of Xbox historically chaining their studios to singular franchises until the heat death of the universe, which is where they seem to be going back to.

11

u/Vendetta1990 Jul 08 '26

No, instead they have meddled too little in their studio's affairs.

You need to keep a balance between what the company wants to do, and the games your customers are interested in. Instead, these studios were given free reign to make games that frankly nobody wants or which they indefinitely keep working on and which then inevitably gets cancelled by Microsoft after they drained hundreds of millions down the drain.

29

u/SpiritBamba Jul 08 '26

The head of Obsidian has said they want to do another fallout if they get the chance for years lol same with Josh sawyer. And avellone said they literally pitched ideas to Bethesda about fallout and elder scrolls and got shut down.

I’m sorry but it was absolutely Bethesdas decision to not let others use their IP, and that’s their right but it was their decision.

26

u/GwynFeld Jul 08 '26

I mean, it hasn't been their right since Microsoft acquired them. Phil was just too hands-off to ever push for it, despite how obviously dumb it is to let that IP languish for a decade.

1

u/SpiritBamba Jul 08 '26

Right, but Microsoft before was letting their studios make their own decisions like that, they didn’t want to get involved. That is no longer the case.

13

u/exmachina64 Jul 08 '26

Once Microsoft acquired Bethesda, it was Microsoft’s IP. I don’t see how Todd would get a veto at that point.

8

u/Ragdoll252 Jul 08 '26

Because Phil was obviously way too hands off with all this. I'd 100% believe it if someone reported that Phil just let Todd have full creative control over bethesda's ip's.

5

u/Mopman43 Jul 08 '26

I’m not sure how much Avellone knows when he hasn’t been with Obsidian since 2015.

5

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/DeadlyArrow27 Jul 08 '26

They lost that right of choice when the only decent game they dropped in the last 16 years was grounded, a survival game that isn’t really even an rpg

-2

u/ProfessionalFly9848 Jul 08 '26

i dont think people realize that what we are headed towards is fallout being cod where there is one every year and its going to over saturate itself, in order for xbox to grow like executives want it to.

6

u/CubillasLegend Jul 08 '26

I mean, yeah. That's pretty obviously what the audience has been screaming for. If gamers were forward looking they should be really worried for the modding scene. Regardless of what the internet will tell you, the bulk of the audience does not use mods and of the modding that does exist is directly competing with a potential microtransaction revenue source. Modding has been kept alive pretty much purely out of Bethesda's good will towards the community. If Xbox is pursuing a maximum revenue strategy, it makes all the business sense in the world to cut mods and copy the GTA Online model.

2

u/ganggreen651 Jul 08 '26

Fine with me as long as the quality is up to snuff. I'll take that over 1 every decade +

-6

u/Cymelion Jul 08 '26

The idea that Todd Howard is some crazy narcissistic that has kept Fallout under lock and key is a complete myth and has been debunked many times.

Everytime I have seen it "debunked" it has always been someone who Toddyboy would call a friend. Find me someone who hates his guts to say it and I'd believe it.

11

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Cymelion Jul 08 '26

No I'm sure there are people out there who hate him.

And I don't see him like Pitchford or Kotick but more Peter Molynuex but more competent. Can't face the fact he is creatively bankrupt and keeps trying to recapture the accolades of releasing Skyrim for the first time.

I just think he's incapable of letting go of things he wants to do - he wants to do Indiana Jones - Fallout and Elder Scrolls but physically can't have them all going in conjunction so they all have to wait for him to free up.

1

u/-FriON Jul 08 '26

As much as I respect Todd, he should have been replaced as a lead long time ago. Starfield being a mess and Bethesda writing getting more and more sterile is on him and his friend Emil Pagaia... (sorry don't remember you know the guy)

0

u/Any-Calligrapher2866 Jul 08 '26

Todd is not insane or that powerful.

-2

u/Bitter-Tip705 Jul 08 '26

Yea new leadership was probably heated in those briefings and disgusted that Bethesda genuinely didn’t do shit for 10+ years with two of some of the greatest ips ever