A writer on Fallout New Vegas has provided more details regarding several Elder Scrolls spinoff games the team pitched to Bethesda after it made the Fallout 3 follow-up, with none of the ideas ever seeing the light of day. The Elder Scrolls spinoff would have acted as New Vegas did for Fallout 3, sitting between mainline Bethesda games and giving players “more adventures in the setting” between tentpole releases.
Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 2, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Prey writer Chris Avellone provides more information about a statement he made last year that revolved around the “Elder Scrolls spinoffs” pitch by New Vegas developer Obsidian. Avellone says these never went any further, likely due to the mixed reception the RPG game had at launch in 2010.
“One of the Elder Scrolls proposals (which I pitched) was intended to serve the same function as Fallout New Vegas did between Fallout 3 and 4, to provide more adventures in the setting during the years before the next Bethesda release,” Avellone begins.
“I thought it couldn’t hurt to try and push a similar system to what Treyarch/Activision had going with Call of Duty at the time (but hopefully less rushed). Bethesda could do a core release, then we’d release an Elder Scrolls title (in the same world or a divergent timeline/era) before the next big Bethesda push,” Avellone says in response to an 80 Level story.
“Not surprisingly, it didn’t gain much traction – I never got the impression Bethesda was happy with Fallout New Vegas’ reception (good and bad).” Avellone adds that the team at Obsidian already had a few ideas if it was given the green light to make its own Elder Scrolls game, too.
“If Bethesda didn’t want us messing with their core world, one was a spinoff where you adventured in an alternate Elder Scrolls world the last hero had failed to save in the last round of Elder Scroll titles.”
While most of us now look favorably on what Obsidian did with New Vegas, to the point where it’s often in conversations on the best RPGs ever, back in 2010 its reception was certainly more muted. There were (and still are) plenty of technical problems, and many of the issues with Bethesda’s Fallout 3 – stiff animations and glitches – are present in New Vegas, too. However, its writing and worldbuilding won out in the end. It’s one of my favorite games ever made, with its quality and staying power made all the more surprising given its rapid 18-month development time.
Back in 2020, Avellone was accused of sexual assault, as two women issued a statement against the developer. Avellone then launched a libel suit in 2021 rebutting the claims, with the settlement and withdrawal of the statements from the two women following earlier this year.
Alongside a seven-figure payment to Avellone, the accusers released a joint statement. “Mr. Avellone never sexually abused either of us. We have no knowledge that he has ever sexually abused any women.
“Anything we have previously said or written about Mr. Avellone to the contrary was not our intent. We wanted to support women in the industry. In so doing, our words have been misinterpreted to suggest specific allegations of misconduct that were neither expressed nor intended.”
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