Obsidian game director Brandon Adler has criticized what he described as a “huge amount of misinformation” about the studio that surfaced online following reports that the developer is working on another Fall-out game. He took particular issue with vocal fan skepticism about whether Obsidian can do the project justice, given that many of the developers who worked on its iconic Fall-out spin-off is no longer in the studio.
Microsoft's struggling gaming business announced another major restructuring on July 6, when Xbox chief Asha Sharma confirmed plans to eliminate about 3,200 jobs, or roughly 20% of the division's workforce. The company has already identified and notified half of the affected employees, while the remaining layoffs are expected by the end of June 2027, the end of Microsoft's current fiscal year. The large-scale restructuring affected Xbox studios of all sizes, including Obsidian, which lost about a quarter of its roughly 220-person workforce. Microsoft said the cuts did not result in the cancellation of any already disclosed first-party projects. As for the rest, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported that several unannounced Obsidian games were shelved during the restructuring, with a significant portion of the studio instead being put to work on a new Fall-out game.
Obsidian Director Dismisses Fan Skepticism Over New Fallout Game
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Image via Bethesda -
In a July 11 LinkedIn post, Obsidian game director Brandon Adler bid farewell to the dozens of colleagues who lost their jobs in the latest wave of Xbox layoffs. “This has been an extremely difficult week at Obsidian,” Adler wrote, before addressing what he called “another difficult aspect”: online criticism of the studio that he considered completely unwarranted. Adler expressed particular frustration at claims that Obsidian no longer has the talent to produce great games because most Fallout: New Vegas creative team has left the studio. “The number of times I've seen people, without any understanding of who has worked on our previous games or what they contributed, talk about how Obsidian isn't who they used to be… is astounding,” he wrote.
Adler insists that the studio's “DNA” hasn't changed even though there aren't many new Vegas developers left
Adler said that even after the recent layoffs, most of Obsidian's senior creative roles remain filled by veterans who worked on Fallout: New Vegas, Pillar of Eternity, The outer worldsand other acclaimed RPGs. While acknowledging that no company remains unchanged for two decades, he maintained that Obsidian's creative “DNA” is the same as it ever was, categorically dismissing any online speculation to the contrary as coming from uninformed “cold take artists”.
The number of times I've seen people, without any understanding of who has worked on our previous games or what they contributed, talk about how Obsidian isn't who they used to be… is astounding. Most of the time they are not only wrong, but spreading a huge amount of misinformation
While Adler's decision to address Obsidian's critics highlights how vocal they've been in recent days, they don't necessarily represent the majority of players' opinions. Many long-time fans have expressed strong enthusiasm for the possibility of another Obsidian-developed Fall-out game since the existence of the alleged project was leaked online on July 8.
Adler's argument is broadly consistent with Obsidian's output in post-New Vegas era. Then the fan favorite, the Mojave set Fall-out the game was launched in 2010, the studio has released more than half a dozen famous role-playing games, including South Park: The Stick of Truth, Tyranny, Basedand Pentium. Although its two 2025 titles, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2have only “Mostly Positive” user ratings on Steam as of mid-2026, both scored in the low 80s on OpenCritic, and have been nominated for several major awards, in addition to winning a few minor awards. Obsidian's quality floors therefore still seem to outperform the ceilings of many mid-sized studios.
Of course, that record doesn't warrant the rumours Fall-out the project will succeed, but it gives some reason for confidence. The outlook is further strengthened by the presence of Fall-out creator Tim Cain, who currently works at Obsidian. Cain retired in late 2025 to contribute to an unannounced project, raising the possibility that he could once again work on the post-apocalyptic series he helped create.
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October 19, 2010
- ESRB
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M for adult: blood and gore, intense violence, sexual content, strong language, use of drugs
- Engine
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Gamebryo
