Obsidian’s New Fallout Game Officially Confirmed by Bethesda — Plus Remasters, Fallout 5, and More

After weeks of leaks, insider reports, and carefully worded non-denials, Bethesda has made it official: Obsidian Entertainment is back in the wasteland. On July 17, 2026, Bethesda dropped a massive statement covering the future of all its major franchises, and the Fallout section alone is enough to keep RPG fans busy reading for the rest of the day.

The headliner is the Obsidian news, but honestly, this entire announcement is one of the biggest things Bethesda has put out in years. Fallout 5, two remasters, a Fallout 76 expansion, Elder Scrolls 6 updates, Starfield content — it’s a lot. Let’s break it all down.

Obsidian is Officially Working on a New Fallout Game

Here’s the actual quote from Bethesda’s statement, because it’s short and to the point:

“The wasteland continues to expand as we team up once again with our longtime friends at Obsidian Entertainment. We’re happy to confirm they’re working with us on a new Fallout project. We’ll have more to share in the future.”

That’s it. No title. No setting. No release window. But it confirms what Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier first reported earlier this month — that Obsidian had pivoted away from its planned Avowed sequel to start work on a new Fallout game.

The big name attached to this project is Josh Sawyer, who served as director and lead designer on Fallout: New Vegas back in 2010. Sawyer has spent the years since working on other Obsidian projects like Pentiment and Pillars of Eternity, but he’s now returning to the Fallout universe. For a lot of fans, that single detail does more to generate excitement than any official teaser trailer could.

Is This Fallout: New Vegas 2?

Nobody knows for certain, and Bethesda isn’t saying. The statement deliberately keeps it vague — “a new Fallout project” could mean a lot of things. What has been reported by credible insiders is that this game will be a modern, first-person RPG, not an isometric throwback to the old Black Isle style. That puts it in the same gameplay lane as Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and New Vegas rather than the original Fallout 1 and 2.

Whether it’s set in the Mojave, a completely new location, or picks up threads from New Vegas’s story is still unknown. The fact that Sawyer is involved naturally points fans toward New Vegas territory, but that connection isn’t confirmed. For now, it’s a new Fallout experience that isn’t Fallout 5, and it’s being developed by the team that made one of the most beloved entries in the franchise. That’s enough to be excited about.

fallout new vegas key art courier with pistol

What About Avowed 2?

Avowed 2 was reportedly canceled as part of the broader Xbox restructuring that hit the company earlier this month, cutting over 3,200 employees across Microsoft’s gaming division. Obsidian was among the studios impacted, losing roughly a quarter of its staff according to California WARN notice filings. The Avowed sequel, along with several other unannounced projects, was shelved to free up the studio for this Fallout work.

It’s not a great situation for fans who loved Avowed or were looking forward to more Pillars of Eternity-adjacent content. The silver lining, if there is one, is that a small team at Obsidian is reportedly still working on Avowed 2 in some capacity, with the hope that it could be revisited down the line. Whether that ever becomes a real game again depends entirely on how the Fallout project lands.

Fallout 3 and New Vegas Remasters Are Real

This one has been rumored for a long time, and Bethesda finally made it official. Both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are getting remasters. No release windows were announced, no platform details were shared, and no screenshots were shown. Just the confirmation that both are in active development.

Fallout 3 being remastered was actually leaked in court documents back in 2023, so this is the first time Bethesda has openly acknowledged it. A New Vegas remaster alongside it makes sense given the franchise’s renewed popularity — Amazon’s Fallout TV series drove a massive spike in players returning to the older games, and a cleaned-up version of New Vegas would sell itself on name recognition alone.

Bethesda also teased something special is being planned for Fallout’s 30th anniversary in 2027, which is a safe assumption for when at least one of those remasters might appear publicly.

Fallout 5 Is In Pre-Production

For anyone hoping Fallout 5 was secretly further along than anyone thought — it’s not. Bethesda confirmed Fallout 5 is currently in pre-production, which puts it at the very beginning of its development cycle. The studio described it as their “long-range destination,” which is basically the most polite way to say don’t expect it anytime soon.

Both Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls 6 are being built on Creation Engine 3, Bethesda’s next-generation engine that has been in development since Starfield launched. The studio says this shared platform lets teams work on both games simultaneously, with tools and systems carrying over between projects. That’s why having Obsidian working on a separate Fallout game in the meantime makes a lot of sense — there’s a long gap to fill before Fallout 5 arrives, and Bethesda clearly doesn’t want fans going dark for a decade.

Fallout 76 Is Getting a Major New Expansion

Fallout 76 players aren’t being left out of all this. Bethesda confirmed a major expansion called Raven Rock is coming to the game in 2027. The expansion is described as a prequel story to Fallout 3, taking players to the location of Raven Rock — a location longtime Fallout 3 fans will immediately recognize as the Enclave’s primary base of operations.

It’s a smart move. Fallout 76 has surpassed 35 million players and received nearly 70 free updates since launch. Tying a major expansion directly to Fallout 3’s lore is a great way to bridge the gap between the older fanbase who grew up on Fallout 3 and the live-service players who’ve been in Appalachia for years. The 2027 timing also lines up with Fallout’s 30th anniversary, making it likely part of whatever that anniversary celebration looks like.

The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield Updates

Bethesda’s statement covered more than just Fallout. The Elder Scrolls 6 is confirmed as the studio’s primary development focus right now. The game has been suggested to target a 2028 or 2029 launch window, though Bethesda hasn’t officially committed to a date. Like Fallout 5, it’s running on Creation Engine 3.

As for Starfield, Bethesda is sticking with it. Over 17 million players have logged close to a billion hours in the game, and Year 3 of post-launch support is bringing new stories, gameplay improvements, and fresh Starborn content arriving early in 2027. The studio also highlighted that over 40% of Starfield players actively use Creations, with mod creators having earned more than $10 million in royalties across Bethesda’s supported titles.

And if you want to check out more coverage of big gaming announcements and what’s coming next, have a look at our breakdown of the Resident Evil 1 Remake pre-production leak and the Stardew Valley x Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair crossover that also dropped this week.

Why This All Matters

Stepping back for a second, this Bethesda announcement is significant because it’s the most transparent the studio has been about its future in a very long time. The Xbox restructuring cast a shadow over everything this month — studios shuttered, thousands of developers out of work, projects killed before anyone ever heard about them. A statement like this doesn’t erase that damage, but it does give fans a concrete picture of what Bethesda is actually building toward.

Having Obsidian back in the Fallout universe is genuinely exciting. New Vegas remains one of the most talked-about RPGs ever made, and the combination of Sawyer’s design philosophy with a modern first-person format has real potential. The remasters filling the gap before Fallout 5, the Raven Rock expansion keeping Fallout 76 relevant, and Elder Scrolls 6 finally confirmed as the main focus — it’s not a bad road map once you look past the circumstances that led to it.

TL;DR — Everything Bethesda Confirmed