Obsidian proposed making an Elder Scrolls game, but Bethesda said no: “I never got the impression Bethesda was happy with Fallout: New Vegas' reception”
There’s a universe where Obsidian got to make an Elder Scrolls spinoff, but sadly, it’s not ours.
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According to recent comments made by former Obsidian Entertainment developer and writer Chris Avellone, Obsidian at one point proposed creating a spinoff game in The Elder Scrolls universe. This game would have been similar to Fallout: New Vegas, the studio’s 2010 entry in the beloved post-apocalyptic RPG series that was designed to bridge the gap between Bethesda’s Fallout 3 and Fallout 4.
“One of the Elder Scrolls proposals (which I pitched) was intended to serve the same function as [Fallout: New Vegas] did between [Fallout 3] and [Fallout 4], to provide more adventures in the setting during the years before the next Bethesda release,“Avellone wrote in a thread on X(formerly Twitter).
The suggestion was inspired byCall of Duty, of all things, with Avellone and Obsidian hoping to echo that franchise’s release schedule. “I thought it couldn’t hurt to try and push a similar system to what Treyarch/Activision had going with Call of Duty at the time (but hopefully less rushed),” he continued. “Bethesda could do a core release, then we’d release a [The Elder Scrolls] title (in same world or a divergent timeline/era) before the next big [Bethesda] push. Probably less relevant now that Elder Scrolls Online is going, but at the time, it seemed to be something that could benefit both studios.”
It wasn’t meant to be, however. It’s hard to imagine it now thatFallout: New Vegasis widely considered to be the best 3DFallouttitle, but back when it came out, it had a quite a rough reputation for being unacceptably buggy and unstable — and Avellone says that’s likely part of why Bethesda turned Obsidian’s proposal down.
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“Not surprisingly, [the proposal] didn’t gain much traction — I never got the impression [Bethesda] was happy with [Fallout: New Vegas'] reception (good and bad),” he said. Then, responding to a commenter who brought up the game’s state at release: “That was one of the bad points, yes. It had numerous issues at launch that we could have worked harder to resolve.”
Interestingly, Avellone says Obsidian already had some concepts in mind when the developer approached Bethesda, including one that might’ve had players returning to a very different version ofSkyrim. “If [Bethesda] didn’t want us messing with their core world, one was a spinoff where you adventured in an alternate [The Elder Scrolls] world the last hero had failed to save in the last round of Elder Scroll titles,” he noted.
I loveThe Elder Scrollsuniverse and Obsidian is one of my all-time favorite game developers, so it’s a huge bummer this game never got off the ground — roaming around a dragon-controlled Skyrim after the Dragonborn got themselves launched by the Giant Space Program sounds awesome. However, now that Microsoft has acquired both Bethesda and Obsidian for Xbox, it’s entirely possible that the latter will get to make New Vegas-style spinoffs again for both The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. By the Nine, I hope so.
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It’s worth mentioning thatAvowed, Obsidian’s upcoming action RPG slated to release at some point in 2024 on Xbox Series X|S and PC, very much looks like it could be the developer’s take on an Elder Scrolls game. That’s definitely the vibe I get from its combat-focusedofficial gameplay trailer, though we haven’t learned much of anything about the game’s other RPG systems yet. As an Xbox console exclusive, Avowed will launch onXbox Game Pass, which you can also play Fallout: New Vegas through.
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
