Less than two weeks after Microsoft's mass layoffs cut 3,200 jobs across its studios, Bethesda has published a lengthy blog post spelling out what it has planned for the years ahead. The headline: remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are officially in the works, a new Fallout project with Obsidian is confirmed, and Fallout 5 has entered pre-production.
What Bethesda actually confirmed
The studio described Fallout as "one of our biggest priorities today," noting it has "multiple Fallout projects in active development right now." Among them are the long-rumored remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Both were the subject of persistent leaks, including a release schedule document surfaced during Microsoft's court fight with the FTC over the Activision Blizzard deal. Bethesda didn't attach dates to either, so how long the wait will be remains unknown.
The previously reported Obsidian collaboration is now official too. Bethesda said its "longtime friends" at Obsidian, the New Vegas developers, are "working with us on a new Fallout project," with more to come. As PC Gamer reads it, the phrasing frames the Obsidian game as a separate, likely non-numbered entry rather than Fallout 5 itself. Eurogamer notes that only last week it was reported Xbox had moved Obsidian onto a new Fallout game at the cost of a sequel to Avowed, and that the studio lost roughly a quarter of its staff in the recent cuts.
Fallout 76 is getting a major 2027 expansion called Raven Rock, described as a prequel to Fallout 3. Bethesda also flagged that Fallout 4, its most-awarded entry, recently passed 35 million copies sold after its 10-year anniversary.
Fallout 5, Elder Scrolls 6, and the engine underneath
Bethesda placed Fallout 5 firmly in the distance. It called the game its "long-range destination" and confirmed it's in pre-production, while The Elder Scrolls 6 remains "our primary development focus today," with the majority of the team working on it. Both games run on Creation Engine 3, a shared platform Bethesda says it has been building since Starfield launched, meant to let its teams support several projects at once. On Elder Scrolls 6, the studio said it's "where we planned to be, loving how it looks, and playing it every day."
Starfield, despite a muted reception, will keep getting updates, including Starborn-focused content next year. And in what several outlets read as a consolidation following the layoffs, ZeniMax Online Studios will "partner closely" with Bethesda Game Studios on The Elder Scrolls franchise while continuing to run The Elder Scrolls Online.
Why the sudden roadmap
The timing hasn't gone unremarked. Rock Paper Shotgun read the post as heavy with the vibe of a studio told to prove it's on target after a bruising round of cuts. The layoffs aren't referenced directly, but Bethesda framed the changes as "bringing our teams closer together so we can get our games into your hands sooner." It's also a notable shift for Todd Howard, who earlier this year discussed the downsides of announcing games far in advance. Bethesda added there will be no traditional Fallout Day broadcast on October 23 this year, saving a bigger celebration for Fallout's 30th anniversary in 2027, to be held live in Washington, D.C.
For anyone tracking release calendars, this is a roadmap almost entirely without dates. The Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters are the nearest concrete prospects, but even those are open-ended, while Raven Rock is pegged for 2027. The Obsidian Fallout, Fallout 5, and The Elder Scrolls 6 all remain unscheduled, so treat this as a statement of intent rather than a set of things to circle on a calendar.