We've reported throughout the entire month that the excellent Fallout TV show (already renewed for a second season) spurred renewed interest in the whole franchise, with previous games clawing their way back to the weekly sales chart and setting new concurrency records.
Despite all this hype, though, fans already know they will likely have to wait a long time before Bethesda can deliver a brand new Fallout title. That's because they are currently busy making The Elder Scrolls VI, which will take at least three to four more years to make, having only recently entered production. When you add a similar development time for Fallout 5 to appear, it's clear that it won't be on the market in this decade - unless Microsoft, which acquired Bethesda a few years ago, steps in and assigns the project to a different developer.
That's exactly what Windows Central's Jez Corden has suggested during the latest episode of the Xbox Two Podcast.
They're currently formulating plans on how to get the next Fallout here for us sooner rather than later which I know is vague as hell, but like, we constantly talk about 'will we even see Fallout this decade? no, we won't' and the answer is, I think we will. I think we will see Fallout. It's a bit different here, because they've already got the engine, the Starfield engine; they just got to kind of make assets for it. I'm suggesting someone else is going to build it. I think probably Obsidian. I just know that they know they can't let this take that long. That's the gist of the current plan. We're not going to have to wait that long for it.
Obsidian Entertainment, which is also under Microsoft's first-party studio umbrella, does seem like the obvious candidate. After all, they made Fallout New Vegas, which many fans consider to be the best game in the series. Moreover, CEO Feargus Urquhart has already expressed his desire to make another game in the franchise. However, this clashes with the studio's extremely busy lineup. Obsidian is currently busy finishing Avowed, which is slated for this fall, and then they must make The Outer Worlds 2. They're probably not large enough to take on yet another project of the scale required in this case.
It's not the first time we hear Obsidian rumors about a new Fallout game. Over two years ago, Jeff Grubb said talks of a New Vegas sequel were happening with Microsoft, but they must have been halted at some point. Perhaps they are resuming now, if Corden is correct.
If it's not Obsidian, though, it's hard to even imagine a developer experienced enough to make a new Fallout game of sufficient quality. Either way, we'll keep an eye on further rumors.
