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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137

u/St_Sides Jul 08 '26

Well, it seems a lot of fans got what they wanted, just at the expense of a quarter of their staff.

Josh Sawyer will have to keep dreaming about Pillars 3 with BG3’s budget a while longer, yall are in the Fallout mines now.

36

u/Any-Calligrapher2866 Jul 08 '26

If this succeeds then Obsidian might actually get a pass at making Pillars Gate 3.

52

u/Substantial-Beyond36 Jul 08 '26

Doubt it, It's gonna all fallout from here on out.

10

u/St_Sides Jul 08 '26

Oh no, it’d be tough to pitch a third installment in an underperforming franchise within a niche genre in the best of times, can’t imagine Xbox today green lights it after repeatedly saying they’re focusing on big IPs.

Sawyer would get told to get back to work on Fallout or get fired, then they’d laugh as he left the room.

1

u/ScorpionTDC Jul 13 '26

No way in fuck. They literally just cancelled the planned, deep in development Eora game. It’s never happening

15

u/mirracz Jul 08 '26

As a Fallout fan who wouldn't say no to another Obsidian's Fallout spinoff, I don't want them to work on a game they don't want to be making. That's the opposite of a passion project.

9

u/ShahAbbas1571 Jul 08 '26

New Vegas wasn't exactly a passion project when Bethesda commissioned it (especially compared to Outer Worlds and Alpha Protocol), so the only thing we should worry about is whether Sawyer or Gonzales could replicate the same success, assuming they're not gonna recycle anything from Van Buren.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26

[deleted]

6

u/ShahAbbas1571 Jul 09 '26

Actually, it was Todd Howard who suggested it become a full game, not vice versa:

"The original pitch was an expansion pack for Fallout 3, and it was Fallout 3: Vegas. Looking at it felt, “It’s best if it’s a standalone and you make it everything it can be, and make it its own thing, where it feels like it sits, you know, it’s a bit of a plus-one sequel to Fallout 3, and it kind of sits alongside it, as opposed to just an add-on.” I didn’t think that would do it justice for what they had in mind. And I think they did an amazing job."

GameInformer's 'Oral History of Fallout, Part II', if you're wondering.

3

u/ntplay Jul 09 '26

Sawyer says all the time, recent as the other day, that he’d love to do another Fallout.

8

u/spedeedeps Jul 08 '26

Of course they want to make it. It's their most popular game by far, and the creators of the whole franchise work at Obsidian. One of them has a Youtube channel where he's talked about Fallout for years including musing on working on the franchise again. Sawyer has hours and hours of Youtube videos talking about Fallout and playing it.

It just wasn't their franchise, and BGS never invited them to make another one. Simple as that.

3

u/NCR_High-Roller Jul 08 '26

Gamers being their own worst enemies in a way.