Jez Corden Revealed Details About Obsidian’s New Fallout Game and Shared the Studio’s Initial Plans

One of the biggest announcements this month was that Obsidian Entertainment is officially working on a new Fallout game—especially welcome news for fans of Fallout: New Vegas, a game many consider the best in the franchise. Details about the new project are still unknown, but Windows Central editor Jez Corden previously claimed Obsidian's new Fallout will be a full-fledged installment, not a spin-off as some had assumed. This time, the insider shared a few more details about the game's development and also described the studio's original concept, which was inspired by Bethesda's franchise.

In a new blog post, Corden revealed that Obsidian had been working on a new Fallout game for several years, waiting on Bethesda's official green light. The game originally used Unreal Engine 5 instead of Creation Engine that Bethesda uses for its own projects. That's what the original report unveiled; later, Corden released an update, clarifying that Obsidian's project wasn't technically a new Fallout game, but something very close to one, borrowing many of the franchise's mechanics and settings. Confusing as that sounds, the studio now has complete carte blanche to build a proper game set in the universe. You can check out Corden's more detailed report below:

“Update (July 17, 2026): To clarify, sources felt that this project (which was not officially Fallout by name) was very Fallout-y in nature, to the point where there were debates at the upper levels of Xbox Games Studios about whether or not it should be made in Unreal or Creation Engine. I was told that Obsidian's previous project wasn't officially Fallout, at least in part because Todd Howard wanted to be involved in any potential formal Obsidian-Bethesda collaboration on the IP. It purportedly wasn't possible at the time due to the various on-going commitments to the Fallout TV show, Elder Scrolls 6, and Starfield. It does sound like the extent to which the previous incubated apocalypse-style franchise was potentially "Fallout-adjacent" amounts to a matter of perspective to onlookers, but Obsidian is obviously very cognizant of fans' long-time hopes for them to return to the genre.”

Bloomberg gaming journalist Jason Schreier made a similar statement during the recent communication with ResetEra users. He reported that "Josh Sawyer's most recent project was codenamed Michigan" and that "it was not Fallout, nor was it a prototype that they hoped would become Fallout". Then, Shreier added that this project is "now being scrapped in favor of a new Fallout."

It’s also worth noting that on July 17, Bethesda made an important announcement related to the Fallout franchise amid Microsoft’s restructuring of the Xbox division earlier this month, which also affected the gaming studio. Despite this, Fallout 5, currently in development at Bethesda Game Studios, is now in the pre-production stage, and the studio has also confirmed work on Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas remasters, which have long been the subject of rumors. Fans of the series certainly have reason to be excited, as the next few years could be thrilling for them, given how many projects set in the Fallout universe are in the pipeline.