- Former Obsidian creative officer Chris Avellone says Bethesda doesn’t have the “engineering know-how” to create a Fallout: New Vegas replay
- Avellone says the studio does not have the source code
- He adds that they may have “aspects of the code” but “they had no idea how to put it back together”
Obsidian Entertainment co-founder and former creative officer Chris Avellone has said one Fallout: New Vegas remake may not be possible because Bethesda lacks the “engineering know-how.”
In a recent interview with YouTube channel TKs-Mantis, Avellone, who also wrote for New Vegassaid that he doesn’t think the company would be able to create a modern version of the 2010 role-playing game (RPG) like last year’s The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remasteredwhich was jointly developed by Bethesda and Virtuos (via GamesRadar).
“Simply, I don’t think Bethesda has the technical know-how to do a remaster of New Vegas at all,” Avellone said, adding that he knows people “enjoyed some of the visuals” of Oblivion Remastered, but overall the reception seemed to be kind of negative.”
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TKs-Mantis bring the rumors of a Fallout 3 remake, suggesting that Bethesda is once again using the game’s Gamebryo engine and Unreal Engine 5 for visual enhancements such as Oblivion Remasteredand for whom fans want the same New Vegas.
Avellone explained that “just pragmatically it would make more sense to try that process Fallout 3 before you go to New Vegasjust to see what all the problems and issues are as a result,” but there is “one reason” why that would be impossible.
The reason, he claimed, was that the studio head, Feargus Urquhart, did not give Bethesda the game’s source code after development was completed.
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“The very last milestone for New Vegas was ‘please provide all the source code and the ability to make the build and we’ll pay you like $10,000 for that milestone,'” Avellone said. “Now what that milestone really meant was that if all those assets are given to Bethesda, it means they can remake the game at any time. So for reasons unknown to me, but I suspect, Feargus decided not to pay that milestone and didn’t deliver.”
He continued, saying: “It’s not a strange decision if you feel, which wouldn’t be out of the question, that he felt that New Vegas experience cheated him for X amount, in which case it would be an option to cut off the income stream from this product for a period of time. I could certainly see that, and I’m not saying that’s the case.’
When asked to clarify whether Bethesda has the source code, Avellone said, “They may have aspects of the code, but everyone I spoke to after that period said they had no idea how to put it back together.”
In September 2023, it was reported that Microsoft’s legal documents showed plans to remaster Oblivion and Fallout 3. While Oblivion Remastered turned out to be true, Bethesda has yet to announce any new remake projects.
Oblivion Remasteredalthough it was leaked beforehand, it was shadowed, so if one Fallout 3 remaster is underway, there is always the possibility of it happening again.
For now, the studio is developing The Elder Scrolls 6which was announced back in 2018. Fallout 5 is also expected to be launched after The Elder Scrolls 6.
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