Obsidian wanted to make additional Elder Scrolls and Fallout games, but Bethesda wouldn’t let them, claims an ex-developer.
Bethesda may be best known for The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, but it’s probably going to be around five years before we get a sequel to the 12-year-old Skyrim and, despite its new TV show, Fallout is going to be even longer than that.
It seems like it would make a lot more sense if Bethesda were to delegate sequels, or at least spin-offs, to other studios, like they did with Fallout: New Vegas, and according to one developer that’s exactly what they once suggested.
It turns out the New Vegas developer pitched several ideas to make more games in-between new Bethesda releases, from both franchises, but they were all shot down.
‘One of the Elder Scrolls proposals (which I pitched) was intended to serve the same function as FNV [Fallout: New Vegas] did between F3 and F4 [Fallout 3 and 4], to provide more adventures in the setting during the years before the next Bethesda release,’ said writer Chris Avellone on Twitter.
‘Bethesda could do a core release, then we’d release a TES [The Elder Scrolls] title (in same world or a divergent timeline/era) before the next big Bethesda push.’
Avellone thought of the idea as a win-win for both studios, but every pitch was turned down by Bethesda.
‘Probably less relevant now that Elder Scrolls Online is going, but at the time, it seemed to be something that could benefit both studios.
‘Not surprisingly, it didn’t gain much traction – I never got the impression Bethesda was happy with FNV’s reception (good and bad),’ he says.
This seems to be a reference to the idea that Bethesda is somewhat jealous of New Vegas’ reputation, with many fans considering it to be the best 3D entry in the series – as calls for a remake or remaster repeatedly fall on deaf ears.
It doesn’t sound like Obsidian’s pitches went very far, but one idea was to create an alternate world in The Elder Scrolls universe.
‘If Bethesda didn’t want us messing with their core world, one was a spin-off where you adventured in an alternate TES [The Elder Scrolls] world the last hero had failed to save in the last round of Elder Scroll titles.’
Microsoft now owns both Bethesda and Obsidian but with both currently being busy with their own projects there seems little chance the ideas will be resurrected.
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