Remake projects for Microsoft and Bethesda Softworks’ action role-playing games, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, are allegedly being outsourced.
During the latest episode of The Jeff Gerstmann Show, game journalist and host Jeff Gerstmann recently shared new details about the future of the Fallout franchise. According to him, an unannounced Fallout project that was once in development at another studio within Microsoft’s gaming division has apparently been canceled. He also suggested that rumored remake projects for classic entries such as Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas may be handled by an external developer rather than Bethesda Game Studios.
The topic came up while Gerstmann responded to a viewer question about whether other teams within Xbox Game Studios might eventually work on Fallout or The Elder Scrolls following Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda’s parent company, ZeniMax Media. He expressed skepticism about that idea, noting that the core creative leadership at Bethesda Game Studios likely intends to maintain tight control over those flagship franchises. “I think that like that is something that like Todd Howard and Todd Howard’s team probably has a pretty firm grasp on what they want to do with those specific franchises,” he said. Rather than assigning new mainline entries to other studios, he believes Bethesda would prefer to expand internally to handle the workload.
However, Gerstmann did reveal that a separate Fallout project had been underway elsewhere within Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios. “There was a Fallout thing in development at another Microsoft owned studio that I think is no longer going to see the light of day,” he said, suggesting that the spin-off has likely been canceled.
While Bethesda may keep primary control over new Fallout entries, Gerstmann believes the previously rumored remakes of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are being outsourced. “They will probably not do the remakes. I think those have been outsourced to other [studios]; like the Fallout 3 thing I think has been outsourced to an external studio,” he said.
