Obsidian Entertainment officially announced its return to Fallout earlier this year, but the announcement was made in the context of "This has just now begun." And while that may be the case, some reports indicate that Obsidian's Fallout game may not be starting from square one.
2026 has been a major shake-up for many Xbox-affiliated studios, including Obsidian Entertainment, as it did not escape new CEO Asha Sharma's "reset" unscathed. It lost a significant portion of its workforce and reportedly canceled the sequel to Avowed. However, while some studios were essentially shipped off, studios like Bethesda and Obsidian were instead given new focus. Obsidian is confirmed to be working on a Fallout game, as part of Bethesda's roadmap for the IP.
As confirmed by Bethesda, remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are in the works. It is also working on pre-production for Fallout 5, which will release some time after The Elder Scrolls 6. It also confirmed it was collaborating with Obsidian on a new Fallout game, believed to be moving ahead as part of the reset process. Of course, that's a lot to happen really quickly, unless Obsidian already had something that could wear the Fallout IP as a true skin of itself. Prior to Xbox's "reset," Oblivion was working on a new game that was very similar to Fallout but was not intended as part of the franchise, with reporter Jason Schreier at one point stating,
"Before the reorganization, Josh Sawyer was leading a project that was a lot like Fallout but a new IP (I reported this last week) which seems to have led to a lot of confusion."
پێش ئەوەی تایمەرەکە بگاتە سفر، ئەوی نامۆ بدۆزەرەوە.
And to be clear, this Project Michigan appears to have come to an end. Yet, since it has been reported that Project Michigan was a game like Fallout, it could be that Obsidian is able to use some of the original materials from Michigan for this new Fallout game. While it remains to be seen, of course, and other factors like Bethesda's collaboration are important, it may mean that Obsidian isn't scrambling to put together a game from nothing. It might only be a few months' work that's salvageable (or weeks, days, if any), but this Fallout game may be further along than some might think. If any existing material or assets could be reutilized, that's just smart development.
Project Michigan was not Fallout and was never a prototype intended to become Fallout, but that doesn't mean enough tweaks and adjustments won't make it fit firmly in the Fallout franchise. How much work is needed, and if it's enough/worth doing, to make that happen is yet another point in the development of this Fallout game timeline.
All that said, known insider Jez Corden has commented on past rollouts of new Fallout games as well. To his understanding, one of the Fallout remasters may release in 2027, with the next slated to come out sometime after The Elder Scrolls 6. After that, it's the next remaster and, eventually, Fallout 5. With Fallout 5 likely being a 2030s game, perhaps this Obsidian Fallout game will also release before then, but for now fans have to simply wait and see.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/obsidian-fallout-game-development-timeline-michigan/
