Bethesda has a rich history of unique IP under its belt. The publisher and game developer has established a strong reputation for its role-playing and fantasy worlds that have been built up and continue to grow over the years. One of the most popular franchises is Fallout, and one of the most popular outings is Fallout: New Vegas. Gamers have been asking for a New Vegas 2 for years now, but it doesn't sound like it's going to become a likelihood anytime soon. In fact, Bethesda recently explained why Fallout: New Vegas 2 probably won't ever happen.
Speaking with The Guardian, Bethesda's creative director, Todd Howard, explained that right now Bethesda is focused on Bethesda and a Fallout: New Vegas 2 is unlikely because they probably won't let another developer handle the property again...
I wouldn't say never, [But] now that our company is so big, it's always better to keep stuff internal ... it becomes less likely, but I could never say never. I thought the Obsidian guys did a fabulous job.
There's a bit of context that needs explaining here. See, Fallout used to be made by Interplay, and then when Bethesda picked it up and began making the games, it was an internal project, meaning that Bethesda's own in-house developers worked on the games.
Back in 2010, however, Bethesda outsourced the Fallout: New Vegas property to RPG veterans, Obsidian Entertainment. The game released with mostly positive review scores, albeit it was one Metacritic point off from the publisher mandate, and so Obsidian didn't get the bonuses that were promised and part of the studio had to be laid off.
Over time, Fallout: New Vegas became one of the most endearing entries in the franchise due to its writing, characterizations, and the way the lore was built into the post-apocalyptic world. Gamers still produce mods galore for New Vegas, and have consistently asked Bethesda about making a new entry in the series.
Obviously, when The Guardian had an opportunity to pepper Howard about the possibility that's when Howard explained that right now Bethesda is focused on maintaining franchises in-house. So far many of the games that Bethesda publishes all come from studios that it owns, such as the Wolfenstein games that are being produced are done from a Bethesda subsidiary, Machine Games. The Elder Scrolls Online is being made by the subsidiary ZeniMax Online, and DOOM: Eternal is being worked on by id Software.
Now what's interesting is that Howard mentions that the company is keeping its intellectual properties internal, but if you look at a game like RAGE 2, it's being co-developed by Just Cause alum, Avalanche Software. In fact, the game is running on the Just Cause 3 game engine, the Apex Engine, which is a departure from the first RAGE running on the id Tech 5.
So obviously Bethesda isn't against outsourcing when it suits the company, it's just that at this point it won't be outsourcing Fallout for another New Vegas entry. Right now Bethesda is focused on pumping out Fallout 76 for home consoles and PC later this year.
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