If you have been waiting for another Fallout game, you are not alone. The franchise has been quiet for years - but that changed this week.
Bethesda Game Studios, owned by Microsoft, laid out a series of new Fallout projects. Obsidian originally developed New Vegas, and Todd Howard, the longtime director of the Fallout franchise, said the timing felt right. "We could not be more excited to work with Obsidian again," Howard told Bloomberg News during a recent interview. He also acknowledged that Bethesda has gone through changes over its 40 years in business.
"We're going through a change so that we focus best on the franchises and what we need to do to deliver for everybody."
The renewed collaboration with Obsidian revives a partnership that produced one of the most acclaimed entries in the series. Howard praised the studio for retaining "a core group of leaders and other developers that have been together for decades."
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The announcement did not come out of nowhere. Roughly 13 days prior, Microsoft's Xbox division announced it was eliminating a large number of positions. Xbox's recently appointed CEO Asha Sharma revealed a strategy to eliminate 3,200 roles and sell off five development teams, shifting the company's emphasis from minor titles toward its major intellectual properties. Fallout is one of those.
The Fallout TV show on Amazon - currently filming its third season - has brought new life to the series. That likely pushed Bethesda to prove it has a plan. Howard said the studio needs to "find a way to say a bit more so that our fans understand what we're doing and why," while still protecting the surprise of actually seeing a new game.
Still, the timing is tricky. Earlier this week, a large number of employees gathered at multiple Bethesda locations to demonstrate against the layoffs.
This is not just a story about video games. It is a story about how Microsoft is managing its entertainment properties.
Microsoft shares rose 1.82% on the day of the announcement, closing at $393.82. The layoffs and the renewed focus on big franchises like Fallout are part of a broader effort to refocus on the company's biggest franchises.
The bottom line: Big companies are betting that a few huge franchises are safer bets than a dozen smaller ones. For investors, that means watching how Microsoft and its peers protect and grow the brands people already love. Fallout may be a game series, but it is also an asset. And the moves Bethesda makes over the next few years will tell you whether that asset is being managed well or just put on hold.
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