Todd Howard: Obsidian Was the Perfect Fit for Fallout: New Vegas, Drawing on Their Experience with KOTOR 2

Todd Howard from Bethesda has stated that when it came time to develop a new Fallout game after Fallout 3, there was only one studio that made sense: Obsidian Entertainment.

In the years since the last Fallout RPG, fans have speculated that Bethesda might be a bit miffed that Fallout: New Vegas is often regarded as the best in the series, leading to the belief that they might not want anyone else to touch the franchise. While a sequel to New Vegas would certainly be welcomed—especially considering Fallout 5 might not arrive until 2035 at this rate—it’s unlikely there’s any real animosity between the teams. Howard seems to hold Obsidian in high regard.

In a recent interview, Howard discussed how they aimed to maintain the momentum from Fallout 3 while the main Bethesda team focused on Skyrim, which naturally brought them to Obsidian. “They were the only choice,” he said. “They had experience with something similar in [Star Wars] Knights of the Old Republic 2, and we had a solid relationship with them. We knew we were moving on to Skyrim, the franchise was revitalized, but we also recognized there would be a long wait until Fallout 4—so how could we keep the excitement alive?”

John Gonzalez, Obsidian’s lead creative designer, added, “There was Fallout DNA here; people who had worked on the original game and its sequel were involved.” Obsidian was established by former staff from Black Isle Studios and Interplay after the original Fallout 3 project, known as Van Buren, was canceled.

Howard mentioned that the only directive given to Obsidian was to focus on faction-based gameplay, which fans have come to love. Gonzalez emphasized, “What made New Vegas stand out was its intense focus on choice-and-consequence gameplay.” He described New Vegas as “a very Obsidian-focused experience,” highlighting the importance of giving players significant narrative impact and control.

Howard also hinted that “we are doing other things with Fallout that we haven’t announced.”