Obsidian Ditches Avowed Sequel for New Fallout Game
In a new report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Obsidian Entertainment is going through a major shake-up as The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed studio will be working on a new Fallout title. The studio also laid off a quarter of its staff (52 employees), and has cancelled multiple projects, one of them was going to be an Avowed sequel.
The new Fallout title will be led by Josh Sawyer, who worked on Fallout: New Vegas and directed Pentiment, and is being developed in collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios, naturally, since they own the Fallout license. This marks the first news of a new title in the franchise since the last entry, Fallout 76, released back in 2018. Bethesda has been busy with other franchises, and despite Amazon's live-action Fallout series performing well (it's currently two seasons deep), there's been no new game to capitalize on that momentum, though Fallout 76 has ridden that wave as there was new content added that featured The Ghoul.
As for Obsidian, the last time they worked on a Fallout project was Fallout: New Vegas, released in 2010. Their next major project was set to be an Avowed sequel (reportedly on track to be revealed) but it didn't fit into Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's overall plans.
Obsidian staff will continue working on the Avowed sequel despite its cancellation, as they wait for concrete plans on the new Fallout title, and any other projects that get greenlit. The staff is also still working on DLC for The Outer Worlds 2 and the multiplayer survival game Grounded 2, Schreier reported.
Obsidian Entertainment is one of the more busier studios under Xbox Games Studios as the studio shipped three titles last year, The Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, and Grounded 2 on early access. The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed sadly didn’t meet sales expectations.
The Xbox reset is brutal
This is rather painful to see as Obsidian has always been a talented studio with the means to step outside its comfort zone and try something unique. But under this Xbox reset, no one is safe: 3,200 employees have been cut (roughly 1,600 already laid off, with the rest following through fiscal year 2027), and four studios have parted ways with Microsoft. Id Software, best known for Wolfenstein and Doom, was also hit hard, losing roughly half its staff.
About the Author - Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.
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