Bethesda Declined Obsidian's Proposals to Develop The Elder Scrolls Spin-Offs

If you are a devoted fan of the Fallout franchise, chances are you already know a thing or two about the chaos and turmoil that marked the development and release of Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas.

The controversy surrounding the game's ridiculously short development time and all that nasty business with the game's score of 84 on Metacritic have been known to the community for years, leading many Fallout enthusiasts to develop a disdain towards Bethesda and leaving thousands to speculate what kind of gaming gem could have emerged if Obsidian had been granted the necessary time and resources.

However, as we all know, despite facing setbacks, the team still managed to deliver an experience that some argue matches, if not exceeds, the quality of the original Fallout games, with the prevailing sentiment being that New Vegas is a superior and more impactful entry than all of Bethesda's Fallout titles, a viewpoint that's hard to argue against. Even to this day, some still believe that the absence of Fallout: New Vegas 2 is a consequence of Bethesda's pettiness and unwillingness to acknowledge that Obsidian's 3D take on Fallout was leagues ahead of the then-new Fallout 3.

As it turns out, there might actually be some substance to this theory, considering a noteworthy piece of evidence, largely overlooked at the time, that was shared nearly two years ago by none other than Chris Avellone, a renowned Game Designer and one of the key figures in the history of Fallout.

In a dated Twitter thread rediscovered recently by Twitter user @nuke_lea, Avellone stated that the team had presented numerous ideas for a new Fallout game to Bethesda, but unfortunately, all were turned down. Moreover, Avellone alleged that Obsidian even approached Bethesda with a proposal to develop spin-offs similar to FNV for The Elder Scrolls franchise, but these suggestions were also met with rejection.

Unfortunately, more than a decade has passed since then, so it is unlikely that we'll ever learn the reason why Bethesda refused Obisian's repeated proposals to create spin-offs for their franchises. Was it Bethesda's hesitance to allocate resources to a new project, especially considering Skyrim was actively in development at the time? Or did it stem from New Vegas' less-than-stellar sales figures? Or maybe the aforementioned theorists are right, and Bethesda simply didn't like the idea that Obsidian outshone them with FNV? I guess it is up to anyone to decide for themselves.

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