Just over a week after XBOX cut 3,200 jobs across its studios, a round of layoffs that reached Bethesda teams like id Software, Bethesda Game Studios published a lengthy update on where all of its franchises stand. The update is surprisingly lengthy for a Friday morning drop, and buried in it is the first official confirmation of remasters for both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.
Bethesda says it has been working on those remasters for a while now, though no dates were shared for either. The studio also confirmed that Obsidian Entertainment, the team behind New Vegas, is teaming up with Bethesda Game Studios on a brand new Fallout project. Unfortunately, details on that game are thin for now. Add in Raven Rock, a major Fallout 76 expansion coming next year that tells a prequel story to Fallout 3, and Fallout is easily the busiest part of the update. Fallout 5 remains what Bethesda calls its “long-range destination” and is currently in preproduction.
The Fallout franchise is pretty busy outside of new game announcements as well, with Fallout 4 recently celebrating its 10-year anniversary and passing 35 million copies sold. Fallout Shelter has quietly reached more than 250 million players, has new Seasons on the way, and is getting an unscripted television project with Amazon Studios and Kilter Films. On the scripted side, Fallout Season 2 picked up 10 Emmy nominations, and Season 3 is already in production.
As for The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda says The Elder Scrolls VI is now its primary development focus, with the majority of the team building the sequel on Creation Engine 3, the same platform powering Fallout 5. That’s a long way from 2023, when the game was described as five-plus years away. ZeniMax Online Studios will also partner with Bethesda Game Studios on the franchise while continuing to support The Elder Scrolls Online, which recently kicked off Season One: Return of the Thieves Guild. Skyrim, meanwhile, has passed 65 million copies sold 15 years in, and as we’ve joked before, another version of it launching is right up there with death and taxes.
Starfield enters Year 3 with over 17 million players and nearly a billion hours played, and Bethesda is planning new stories, targeted gameplay improvements, and new Starborn content for next year. More than 40 percent of players customize the game through Creations, which expanded to Fallout 4 this year, and creators have earned over $10 million in royalties to date. In my Starfield review, I described the game as a “jack of all trades, ace of none,” though it has received significant updates since launch.
For everything the update covers, the layoffs from earlier this month never come up, and nothing beyond next year has a firm date attached. There won’t be a traditional Fallout Day broadcast this year either, though Bethesda is planning a live Fallout 30th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C. in 2027, the same year Raven Rock and the new Starborn content are due.
