Todd Howard says Obsidian was the only choice for Fallout: New Vegas
Todd Howard says Obsidian was the only choice for Fallout: New Vegas, praising its Fallout roots and focus on player choice and consequence.
Bethesda’s Todd Howard has revealed that Obsidian Entertainment was always the clear choice to create Fallout: New Vegas following the success of Fallout 3. Speaking in a recent interview, Howard explained that Bethesda wanted to maintain interest in the franchise while its main team moved on to develop Skyrim. With that in mind, he said there was little debate about which studio should take on the next major entry.
Howard shared that Bethesda saw Obsidian as uniquely positioned to handle the project because of both its experience and its deep roots in the Fallout universe. “They were the only choice,” Howard said, noting that the developer had previously worked on major role-playing franchises and understood the tone and structure expected from a Fallout game.
He also highlighted that Bethesda trusted Obsidian due to its previous work on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, which took over a beloved series and successfully delivered its own take. According to Howard, Bethesda knew it would be moving away from Fallout for several years and wanted a team capable of keeping the franchise engaging and relevant in the meantime.
Howard added that Bethesda felt confident that the series was firmly back in the public eye after Fallout 3, but there was concern about the long gap until Fallout 4. Working with another respected studio was seen as a practical way to ensure fans still had something meaningful to enjoy within the same universe during that pause in development.
Obsidian brings its Fallout heritage to New Vegas
Obsidian’s involvement with Fallout: New Vegas went beyond simply taking over a popular game series. Many of its team members had already played key roles in shaping the original Fallout titles long before Bethesda acquired the franchise. This history meant the developer arrived with an understanding of the series’ identity, tone, and long-standing expectations from fans.
John Gonzalez, Obsidian’s lead creative designer on the project, shared that this existing heritage was an important part of what the studio brought to New Vegas. “There was Fallout DNA here; there were people who had worked on the original title, and then also the second game,” he said. Obsidian itself was formed by former Black Isle Studios and Interplay developers, many of whom were directly tied to the creation of the early Fallout titles.
Because of this background, the studio was familiar not only with the setting and style but also with the philosophy behind earlier Fallout storytelling. That allowed Obsidian to approach New Vegas in a way that felt grounded in the franchise’s history rather than reinventing it entirely. Instead, the team aimed to expand and refine familiar ideas in a new direction.
Although Bethesda retained overall control of the series, it gave Obsidian significant creative space to explore its own vision within established boundaries. According to Howard, the main direction Bethesda provided was centred around faction-based gameplay, an element that has become one of the most celebrated aspects of New Vegas. This trust enabled Obsidian to craft a distinctive experience that still felt authentic to Fallout.
Choice, consequence, and New Vegas’ lasting influence
Fallout: New Vegas has since become widely regarded by many players as one of the strongest and most memorable Fallout entries, particularly due to its emphasis on narrative choice and branching consequences. Gonzalez explained that this design focus was intentional and closely aligned with Obsidian’s storytelling approach. “The thing that made New Vegas special was the ferocious focus on choice-and-consequence gameplay,” he said.
He described New Vegas as “a very Obsidian-focused experience,” saying the team wanted to ensure players felt trustworthy agency within the world. “It’s all about allowing the player to have tremendous amounts of narrative impact, narrative control,” Gonzalez added. This commitment to meaningful player decisions has been consistently highlighted as one of the game’s defining strengths.
Over time, New Vegas has achieved a strong legacy within the Fallout community. Despite launching as a spin-off rather than a numbered mainline entry, it is often discussed alongside, or even above, other major releases in the franchise. Many players view its storytelling depth, complex characters, and multiple endings as benchmarks for what the series can deliver.
While fans continue to hope for another Obsidian-led project in the Fallout universe, nothing official has been confirmed. However, Howard’s comments suggest that mutual respect remains between the studios, countering long-standing speculation about tension. Instead, his remarks indicate appreciation for what Obsidian achieved and how it helped sustain the franchise during a critical period of transition.
