Obsidian has canceled a deliberate Avowed sequel to start work on a brand new Fallout recreation.
That’s in response to Bloomberg, which claims that studio design director Josh Sawyer will helm the brand new mission, after shifting over from one other deliberate RPG which is claimed to have been “related structurally and thematically” to Fallout.
In line with the report, progress on Avowed 2 was going effectively, and it was on observe to be introduced inside the subsequent yr. Nonetheless, it didn’t match with Xbox CEO’s Asha Sharma’s new technique.
The shift comes as a part of a serious ‘reset’ at Obsidian’s father or mother firm, Xbox, which plans to put off hundreds of staff and refocus on its greatest franchises.
Round 1 / 4 of Obsidian’s workforce is claimed to have misplaced their jobs this week, as a part of the cuts. In line with a WARN discover in California, seen by Recreation File, Obsidian is dropping 52 staff, together with 43 based mostly in its California places of work and 9 in-state distant staff.
Obsidian was bought by Microsoft in 2018, and final yr, it launched three video games: Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and Grounded 2. In line with Bloomberg, Obsidian will proceed creating content material for the latter two titles.
In a Bloomberg interview with Obsidian head Fergus Urquhart printed earlier this yr, it was implied that Grounded 2 was “a giant hit” for the studio, however neither The Outer Worlds 2 nor Avowed met gross sales expectations.
Xbox-owned Bethesda, which stewards the Fallout franchise, hasn’t launched any new mainline Fallout or Elder Scrolls video games in over a decade, which is probably going irritating for its father or mother firm, particularly given the recognition of the Fallout Amazon present.
Bethesda’s head of studios advised staff in a word this week that it’s going to restructure round its “strongest franchises”.
Jill Braff mentioned: “To finest place Bethesda for future development, we’re shifting from a planning mannequin primarily centered on what’s subsequent for every impartial studio to 1 that focuses on our strongest franchises and figuring out the content material roadmap that finest serves our gamers and Bethesda as a complete.”
