In the eyes of many, and certainly myself, the future of Fallout seems a precarious one. Despite the financial backing of Microsoft, now owner of Bethesda, the output by Bethesda is the subject of critical concern. After all, the last two games developed directly by Bethesda Game Studios have been criticised by both the media and fans alike.
Fallout 76 initially launched as a bare-bones MMO with little going for it, and while Bethesda has made strides to improve the experience, many still consider it to be the worst Fallout game in the franchise.
More recently, Starfield was launched by the company and while it impressed some initially, over time people have soured on the title, considering it weak in storytelling and not reaching the heights of exploration and personality the studio has been known for.
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This accounts for the last six years from the studio. As publishers they fare a little better, having published in the same period, Rage 2, Deathloop, DOOM Eternal, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and Hi-Fi Rush. Why this doesn’t bode well for Fallout should be clear to see, the last time Bethesda made a mainline Fallout game it was 2015 and the company was thinking very differently. And some are thinking that perhaps Bethesda has lost its charm.
Now, it’s clear that in their partnership with Amazon Studios, material for Fallout can still entertain, and Todd Howard who was Executive Producer for the show clearly showed that the spark is still there, but can the company turn that into a brilliant game - one that is still some way off, set to come after The Elder Scrolls 6, a game we don’t have a release window for.
It’s going to be a long wait, it’s likely Fallout 5 won’t even see this current round of hardware. This is why I believe Bethesda should outsource Fallout again, as they did with Fallout: New Vegas.
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So, let’s talk a little bit about Fallout: New Vegas. A game that many, myself included, consider to be the best Fallout game in the series. It was developed by Obsidian Entertainment while Bethesda focused on Skyrim (New Vegas came in 2010, Skyrim came 13 months later) and it was a successful partnership in terms of quality delivered. New Vegas is arguably the best game due to its more original story, brilliant faction system, enjoyable world exploration, and a return to the humour and satire of the first two games.
It’s no surprise given that the core team who worked on New Vegas was from Black Isle Studios, the developer who created Fallout in the first place. They know the world, they know the franchise. Unfortunately, the partnership soured immediately after the release of New Vegas due to a contract stipulation from Bethesda to Obsidian.
Obsidian was promised a base fee for creating the spin-off Fallout game. They agreed to no royalties, however, they were told they would receive a bonus payout if the game scored 85 or above on Metacritic after launch. The game reached an 84.
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This was disastrous for Obsidian. In losing the bonus by just one point they had to cancel their next game and were forced to lay off many employees. This was a very public situation as Chris Avallone of Obsidian explained on Twitter saying, “[the agreement was] a straight payment, no royalties, only a bonus if we got an 85+ on Metacritic, which we didn’t.” This caused a lot of backlash against Bethesda and brought into account the way the industry so heavily focused on Metacritic.
Despite the score at the time, New Vegas went on to be the darling of the series in a bittersweet turn of events. So, should Obsidian take over Fallout once again?
In a perfect world, yes. In this world? It’s not likely. There aren’t many of the team left from Black Isle Studios or the development time on New Vegas. That doesn’t mean they can’t produce something special, The Outer Worlds was a spiritual successor to Fallout, after all, and showed the studio could still produce something similar.
But Obsidian is also hard at work on three separate projects, one of which is Avowed, a first-person magical shooter set within their Pillars of Eternity universe. Another is a sequel to The Outer Worlds. Obsidian doesn’t have the numbers to produce another Fallout game, at least from an outsider’s perspective.
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For a long time, Obsidian and Bethesda working together again was incredibly unlikely, despite the rumours saying that New Vegas 2 could be on the cards. There was still a bitter aftertaste from the previous deal. However, now both studios are owned by Microsoft, it’s not an impossibility and Microsoft definitely has the capital and the power to urge the two companies into collaboration. If Bethesda is working on Elder Scrolls 6, why not take away some of the pressure and give Fallout to someone else?
Should another developer be sought for the next Fallout installment? After Starfield came out, fans began to doubt that Bethesda still had the magic we saw for Fallout 4 and Skyrim, could they stick the landing? Do they need new creative leads? Would they benefit from focusing on a sequel that takes the TV show canon into account? If it weren’t for the Amazon show it would feel like Bethesda has no idea what to do with the Fallout universe.
So, here’s my plea. Give it to Larian Studios. Microsoft, please step in and say ‘Bethesda we love you, please put 100% into Elder Scrolls and we’ll get Larian Studios to do a Fallout spin-off.’ Imagine that game for a moment, it would be a return to the tactical adventures we saw in the 1990s with huge amounts of narrative depth, skills in turning out memorable characters, and an astonishing level of worldbuilding.
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Of course, if we want to stick with a 3D action-RPG then give it to BioWare and let them channel some of the old Mass Effect magic on it. We can have the karma system return for companions, perhaps even leave the solo adventurer behind, and create a team like we’ve seen in the Amazon show. A ragtag group who venture out into the wastelands with bags of humour and difficult decisions among the action-packed set pieces and perk trees.
Of course, I don’t want to discount Bethesda too much. For all we know, we could let them cook and they’ll bring us something tasty. However, as much as I love Bethesda, and I do, bringing in another developer would also capitalise on the current momentum for the franchise. All anyone is talking about is Fallout. The games are seeing spikes in playercounts, the series is super popular again, and yet we may have to wait for four years or more for the next game. If Microsoft and Bethesda have any sense, they’ve already outsourced the next title, spin-off or not.
Topics: Amazon, Bethesda, Fallout, Obsidian Entertainment, TV And Film, Bioware, Microsoft