Chris Avellone: Obsidian made multiple proposals to develop spin-offs for Fallout and The Elder Scrolls which were turned down by Bethesda

[NecroLord]

It still blows my mind that Microsoft apparently bought Bethesda for Bethesda the studio and not just their properties.

Like, the fact that a Fallout TV show is going to launch and there isn't going to be a game to sync up with it because Bethesda won't have another Fallout for 10 years is insane. Or that Elder Scrolls won't have another game for years to come.

Microsoft bought Bethesda and got what, Starfield? They should be doing exactly what Avellone suggested be done, putting other studios on interquels for Fallout and Elder Scrolls ASAP.

Fallout fatigue...
Seriously, this franchise was gone (arguably) the moment Bethesda acquired it.

I'm not talking about the quality of the games, just money. They're sitting on money so that Bethesda can take 10 years to churn out a shitty game - when they could be letting other studios take a crack at it.

What other studio?
Have you taken a look lately at the current state of the industry?
Even so, letting an indie or lesser known studio take a shot at your IP is a risky proposition. I don't think Bethesda is willing to take this gamble and lose more money.

 

[EtcEtcEtc]

It still blows my mind that Microsoft apparently bought Bethesda for Bethesda the studio and not just their properties.

Like, the fact that a Fallout TV show is going to launch and there isn't going to be a game to sync up with it because Bethesda won't have another Fallout for 10 years is insane. Or that Elder Scrolls won't have another game for years to come.

Microsoft bought Bethesda and got what, Starfield? They should be doing exactly what Avellone suggested be done, putting other studios on interquels for Fallout and Elder Scrolls ASAP.

Fallout fatigue...
Seriously, this franchise was gone (arguably) the moment Bethesda acquired it.

I'm not talking about the quality of the games, just money. They're sitting on money so that Bethesda can take 10 years to churn out a shitty game - when they could be letting other studios take a crack at it.

What other studio?
Have you taken a look lately at the current state of the industry?
Even so, letting an indie or lesser known studio take a shot at your IP is a risky proposition. I don't think Bethesda is willing to take this gamble and lose more money.

I would imagine it's up to Microsoft, not Bethesda.

And of the studios Microsoft owns - Obsidian could make another one, or InExile - or Arkane.

 

[Lemming42]

Todd always comes across as decent and genuinely interested in the projects he works on, even if they often tend to go horribly wrong. He doesn't really seem to have much of an ego either. I can easily believe he'd be very open to the idea of other people working on spinoff games for series that Bethesda owns the rights to.

Obsidian TES would have been interesting. It's a much more freeform style than Fallout and I wonder if Obsidian would actually have succeeded at making one (insert joke about how Bethesda themselves have never succeeded at TES here), especially since Obsidian's one trick is to make games that have very distinct quest paths in which NPCs won't stop talking to you and telling you what to do, which is sort of antithetical to the basis of TES. It could have naturally slipped into a situation where Obsidian would handle Fallout and Beth would handle TES, which I think would have been beneficial for everyone (unless you happen to think NV was a fluke for Obsidian that they wouldn't have been able to replicate, and instead we'd just have ended up with Fallout-flavoured The Outer Worlds).

Avellone's comparison to the CoD model is disconcerting; I don't think Fallout can withstand games every other year. A new New Vegas every couple years, even if they were all of NV quality, would just get tiring and the cracks would begin to show very quickly. I'd love to know what his spinoff TES ideas would be too because presumably he's not thinking about full-scale Skyrim-style games but instead about some kind of smaller scale thing like Redguard.

 

[Infinitron]

Avellone's comparison to the CoD model is disconcerting; I don't think Fallout can withstand games every other year. A new New Vegas every couple years, even if they were all of NV quality, would just get tiring and the cracks would begin to show very quickly. I'd love to know what his spinoff TES ideas would be too because presumably he's not thinking about full-scale Skyrim-style games but instead about some kind of smaller scale thing like Redguard.

I don't think he was referring to the release schedule, just the concept of two studios alternating on the same franchise.

 

[antimeridian]

He didn't like the post-post apocalypse status quo, which is why he wanted to be in charge of it.

I love Chris, we all love Chris, but I've always hated this take of his. Opinions will vary but I find the post-post apocalypse, rising states, politics of FO2 and NV much more engaging than the post-apocalypse of FO1. Still, I'm curious exactly what direction he wanted to go in. We know he wanted to nuke the Mojave and reset civilization again, but... then what?

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Good decision by Todd, TOS game by Obsidian would canibalize sales of Skyrim: Definite Enhanced Ultimate Turbo Remastered Edition.

 

[Roguey]

He didn't like the post-post apocalypse status quo, which is why he wanted to be in charge of it.

I love Chris, we all love Chris, but I've always hated this take of his. Opinions will vary but I find the post-post apocalypse, rising states, politics of FO2 and NV much more engaging than the post-apocalypse of FO1. Still, I'm curious exactly what direction he wanted to go in. We know he wanted to nuke the Mojave and reset civilization again, but... then what?

A never-changing status quo, it'll forever be Fallout the First, same as how Dungeons and Dragons is always Dungeons and Dragons.

 

[antimeridian]

A never-changing status quo, it'll forever be Fallout the First, same as how Dungeons and Dragons is always Dungeons and Dragons.

D&D was a lot to begin with, it can support a lot of stories and it's still D&D. Fallout was basically self-contained, seems very difficult to expand on without going bigger. Humanity wouldn't be left scrabbling around in the dirt forever, at least not in the apocalypse Fallout presented. Would love to hear Chris talk about this now and if he still feels the same.

 

[NecroLord]

He didn't like the post-post apocalypse status quo, which is why he wanted to be in charge of it.

I love Chris, we all love Chris, but I've always hated this take of his. Opinions will vary but I find the post-post apocalypse, rising states, politics of FO2 and NV much more engaging than the post-apocalypse of FO1. Still, I'm curious exactly what direction he wanted to go in. We know he wanted to nuke the Mojave and reset civilization again, but... then what?

Yeah.
Fallout 2 had Vault City, New Reno and NCR playing realpolitik, trying to carve their own empires from out of the Wasteland.
Pretty cool, I always liked it.
Fallout did not have as much politics as its sequel, it had The Master and his plot to "advance" humanity through his Super Mutant project.
It was the story of a man who lived a sheltered, comfortable life in a Vault forced to journey into the Wasteland and acknowledge the fact that it is filled with suffering and tragedy, but also a measure of hope and people who are trying to rebuild from out of the ashes of The Great War.

 

[Camel]

Pity Bethesda never let Chris and co to have a crack at their universe. Old Obsidian could've made a decent if flawed TES spin-off like all games they made. But that ship has long sailed with nu-Obsidian being a woke shell of itself.

 

[Elttharion]

It still blows my mind that Microsoft apparently bought Bethesda for Bethesda the studio and not just their properties.

Like, the fact that a Fallout TV show is going to launch and there isn't going to be a game to sync up with it because Bethesda won't have another Fallout for 10 years is insane. Or that Elder Scrolls won't have another game for years to come.

Microsoft bought Bethesda and got what, Starfield? They should be doing exactly what Avellone suggested be done, putting other studios on interquels for Fallout and Elder Scrolls ASAP.

The problem is that Microsoft, or at least their Xbox division, is horribly mismanaged too. They dont even need to create a new game, a simple remaster of Fallout 3 or NV would be enough to capitalize on the show's hype.

 

[Ismaul]

We lost out on good games

Thank god. Every potential Gamebryo / Creation Engine game that doesn't come out is a blessing to humankind.

 

[Immortal]

numerous attempts were made

In 2017 he had parted ways with Obsidian for years. He was trying to be Bethesda's official lore guy, they told him his services were not wanted or needed.

They didn't need the writer of Planescape, they had Emil.

 

[frajaq]

Avowed will prove that Obsidian can do Skyrim just as well, just wait and see!!!

 

[mondblut]

He was trying to be Bethesda's official lore guy, they told him his services were not wanted or needed.

If only he had wasted his time on modding games.

Or getting past the wolves in Arcanum.

 

[Artyoan]

Avowed will prove that Obsidian can do Skyrim just as well, just wait and see!!!

I think they already intentionally cratered expectations and said it wouldn't be anywhere near an Elder Scrolls rival. Despite the initial teaser being exactly that.

 

[Daedalos]

TODD and his bethestards doing bethtard things with no clue whatsoever on how or what to go about it.

Surprised pikachu.jpg

It's just the right kind of revenge, that majority of people consider NV to be VASTLY superior to anything TODDY and his band of fuckups ever could come up with in terms of fallout.

The TV show is likely gon be shit too... fuck you TODD

 

[EtcEtcEtc]

It still blows my mind that Microsoft apparently bought Bethesda for Bethesda the studio and not just their properties.

Like, the fact that a Fallout TV show is going to launch and there isn't going to be a game to sync up with it because Bethesda won't have another Fallout for 10 years is insane. Or that Elder Scrolls won't have another game for years to come.

Microsoft bought Bethesda and got what, Starfield? They should be doing exactly what Avellone suggested be done, putting other studios on interquels for Fallout and Elder Scrolls ASAP.

The problem is that Microsoft, or at least their Xbox division, is horribly mismanaged too. They dont even need to create a new game, a simple remaster of Fallout 3 or NV would be enough to capitalize on the show's hype.

They must be - this shit isn't rocket science.

You've got two golden IP's in Fallout and Elder Scrolls. Why would you not cash in on them? You also purchased RPG studios that could handle the load - so it's especially boggling.

There's a case to be made you don't want to dilute the brand with shit product - but Bethesda, who they have given the keys to the kingdom ARE releasing shit product.

The TV show is going to be a hit - it's got Walton Goggins attached to it, and he doesn't do shit work - and they will have nothing but a Fallout 4 Next Gen update to show for it? It's dereliction of duty. If I was a shareholder I'd be pissed.

I swear to god, for as much money as video games make, the industry is retarded when it comes to capatilizing on profit.

 

[Daedalos]

It still blows my mind that Microsoft apparently bought Bethesda for Bethesda the studio and not just their properties.

Like, the fact that a Fallout TV show is going to launch and there isn't going to be a game to sync up with it because Bethesda won't have another Fallout for 10 years is insane. Or that Elder Scrolls won't have another game for years to come.

Microsoft bought Bethesda and got what, Starfield? They should be doing exactly what Avellone suggested be done, putting other studios on interquels for Fallout and Elder Scrolls ASAP.

The problem is that Microsoft, or at least their Xbox division, is horribly mismanaged too. They dont even need to create a new game, a simple remaster of Fallout 3 or NV would be enough to capitalize on the show's hype.

They must be - this shit isn't rocket science.

You've got two golden IP's in Fallout and Elder Scrolls. Why would you not cash in on them? You also purchased RPG studios that could handle the load - so it's especially boggling.

There's a case to be made you don't want to dilute the brand with shit product - but Bethesda, who they have given the keys to the kingdom ARE releasing shit product.

The TV show is going to be a hit - it's got Walton Goggins attached to it, and he doesn't do shit work - and they will have nothing but a Fallout 4 Next Gen update to show for it? It's dereliction of duty. If I was a shareholder I'd be pissed.

I swear to god, for as much money as video games make, the industry is retarded when it comes to capatilizing on profit.

Agree, making tv/film about games, and not having a new game come out together with that, just seems retarded. it could EASILY have been planned together. I guess somehow the microsoft aquisition got it twisted.
If I was Phil Spencer, I would probably call toddy into my office nad tell him to get the fuck to work on a new fallout title, and if he cant do that, just outsource the game to another of the other 90 million studios that Microsoft also owns and has recently acquired. shit aint hard

 

[Tyranicon]

It still blows my mind that Microsoft apparently bought Bethesda for Bethesda the studio and not just their properties.

Like, the fact that a Fallout TV show is going to launch and there isn't going to be a game to sync up with it because Bethesda won't have another Fallout for 10 years is insane. Or that Elder Scrolls won't have another game for years to come.

Microsoft bought Bethesda and got what, Starfield? They should be doing exactly what Avellone suggested be done, putting other studios on interquels for Fallout and Elder Scrolls ASAP.

This makes way too much sense for most corporations.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

He didn't like the post-post apocalypse status quo, which is why he wanted to be in charge of it.

I love Chris, we all love Chris, but I've always hated this take of his. Opinions will vary but I find the post-post apocalypse, rising states, politics of FO2 and NV much more engaging than the post-apocalypse of FO1. Still, I'm curious exactly what direction he wanted to go in. We know he wanted to nuke the Mojave and reset civilization again, but... then what?

Even if Chris Avellone has a strong preference for post-apocalyptic settings (Fallout 1) versus post-post-apocalyptic settings (arguably Fallout 2 and certainly by Fallout New Vegas), he should realize that the answer is to avoid advancing the setting in time, not to somehow "reset" it by nuking it again and again. One possibility would have been to advance the chronology only slowly between entries in the series, but the mistake of skipping many decades was already made in 1998 with Fallout 2 and couldn't be erased. Since the California/Nevada area's outcome was already projected far into the future, the solution would be to make games in different parts of the United States, each along the lines of the original Fallout with civilization still precariously rebuilding from nuclear devastation.

 

[0sacred]

Since the California/Nevada area's outcome was already projected far into the future, the solution would be to make games in different parts of the United States, each along the lines of the original Fallout with civilization still precariously rebuilding from nuclear devastation.

can't sell that to players with a hero complex, they would complain that their actions didn't matter. Also no awesome button effect

 

[Yosharian]

Imagine how much less Bethesda would be sucking ass right now if they had Avellone directing the writing instead of Emil

 

[Roguey]

can't sell that to players with a hero complex, they would complain that their actions didn't matter. Also no awesome button effect

That's less abrasive than Avellone's "just keep nuking the world so your actions don't matter" solution which pisses a lot of people off (me included).

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Why didn't you post this thing from Twitter/X? Rather interesting. Or was it already known?