He said that TKs-Mantis was “partially right,” going on to note that “there are certain things that were gonna take place in Van Buren that do happen during the time of New Vegas.” Despite this, however, “not a ton of” things from Van Buren affected the story of Fallout: New Vegas aside from “a little bit” of a planned plot point involving conflicts between the New California Republic and a “merchant mafia.”

“That’s why all those nukes go off, cause I’m like, ‘well, I need to destabilize some regions,” Avellone explained. “Like, not wipe out factions, but I need to shake up both the Brotherhood, I need to shake up the NCR, I need to have them even more at each other’s throats in California.’ And so that was the reason for some of the precursor decisions for some of the DLC stuff and some of the stuff in core New Vegas … When we still thought we’d be able to do a New Vegas 2, or whatever the title would be, but that quickly evaporated.”

As for the evaporated idea of a New Vegas 2, Avellone has said that it “will not happen in the next six years at least, if ever.”

In the same interview, Avellone had also said that a remaster of Fallout: New Vegas in the vein of last year’s The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is unlikely due to Bethesda’s lack of engineering know-how to make it.

“I don’t think Bethesda has the engineering know-how to make a remaster of New Vegas at all,” he said. This lack of know-how was reflected in the fact that, when New Vegas was still in development at Obsidian Entertainment, Bethesda had offered the studio a $10,000 bonus if it could “deliver all the source code and the ability to make the build.” This bonus was skipped by studio lead Feargus Urquhart.“What that milestone really meant was if all those assets are given to Bethesda, that means they can recreate the game at any time,” he explained.

While a collaboration of this scope between Bethesda and Obsidian seemed unlikely in the years following the 2010 release of Fallout: New Vegas, both companies now fall under the Xbox Game Studios banner following a series of acquisitions by Microsoft. This means that there is potential for the two to work together to remaster the critically acclaimed cult classic open-world RPG.

March also saw a report indicating that Iron Galaxy Studios might be involved in the development of a Fallout: New Vegas remaster. However, the studio quickly dispelled the notion by revealing that any hints towards the remaster were merely a “behind-the-scenes” look at its preparations for team meetings, and that it wasn’t involved in any project related to the Fallout franchise.

“I don’t think Bethesda has the engineering know-how to make a remaster of New Vegas at all,” said Avellone when asked about a potential remaster. This comes down to Bethesda offering Obsidian Entertainment a $10,000 bonus if they could “deliver all the source code and the ability to make the build”. The bonus was eventually skipped by studio head Feargus Urquhart at the time.

“What that milestone really meant was if all those assets are given to Bethesda, that means they can recreate the game at any time,” he explained.

It is worth noting that, since then, both Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment have been acquired by Microsoft. With both studios working under the same banner, the chances for collaboration to make Fallout: New Vegas for modern platforms certainly exist. If it does happen, Avellone has noted that it would be better if Bethesda were to “try out that process with Fallout 3” to better equip itself to deal with potential engine issues.

Last month saw rumors about Fallout: New Vegas getting remastered heating up, thanks to a social media post by Iron Galaxy Studios. The post featured the iconic “PLEASE STAND BY” screen from the Fallout franchise, with its color scheme matching that of New Vegas.

“Today’s our February company meeting,” wrote Iron Galaxy Studios at the time. “It’s time to catch up with what the company’s been up to and what’s coming up next for IG.” This post was followed up by Josh Sawyer—the director for the original Fallout: New Vegas—with his own social media post about how “the time for posting has ended,” and “the time of making games is upon me.”

Eventually, however, the studio had to once more take to social media to clear the air and confirm that it was not involved in a Fallout-based project.

“Nope! There is nothing to see here. Sorry to disturb the volcanoes, but that was just a BTS look at our company meeting. We use that slide every month and has nothing to do with anything Fallout being worked on. As you can imagine, we love Fallout, too. Now pardon us as we retreat back into our vault.”

Fallout: New Vegas was originally released back in 2010 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Rather than picking things up where Fallout 3 left off, the title instead focused on the wasteland in and around the Nevada desert, which included the city of Las Vegas as one of its key locations. Despite suffering from many technical issues, Fallout: New Vegas was highly praised for its setting, characters, and writing.

The tease in question was a “PLEASE STAND BY” screen that looks like it was taken straight out of Fallout: New Vegas, complete with the orange color scheme. However, in its new post, the studio has noted that it has used the same slide for its presentations every month, and that it has no relation to any Fallout project that may or may not be in the works.

“Nope! There is nothing to see here,” wrote Iron Galaxy Studios. “Sorry to disturb the volcanoes, but that was just a BTS look at our company meeting. We use that slide every month and has nothing to do with anything Fallout being worked on. As you can imagine, we love Fallout, too. Now pardon us as we retreat back into our vault.”

It is worth noting that the studio has chosen its words quite carefully, however. It never outright denies that it might be working on Fallout: New Vegas. Rather, it is more focused on stating that the “PLEASE STAND BY” slide is one that it has often used for its presentations.

Fallout: New Vegas was originally released back in 2010 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Owing to the forward march of technology, only the PC version is playable for modern gamers, especially since its original release suffered from technical issues that would eventually be fixed by community-made mods. While Xbox players can still give it a shot thanks to backwards compatibility, there will be plenty of bugs and stability issues.

While the original tease may have simply been a case of a misunderstanding getting out of hand, the timing of Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer also posting on social media that “the time for posting has ended,” and “the time of making games is upon me,” still raises some eyebrows. However, this is still speculation, and until Bethesda makes an official announcement, remasters of Fallout 3 and New Vegas are still simply rumors.

Just last month, creative director Todd Howard had referred to himself as being “sort of anti-remake,” noting that “I’ve softened on the whole remaster thing.” In an interview, he went on to say, “I respect the other [remakes] out there, but I really think the age of a game is part of what it is and its personality and what it represented when it came out.”

He went on to reiterate that Bethesda has “multiple” Fallout projects in development. However, he didn’t reveal any details on what these projects might be.

In the meantime, Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition was recently released on Nintendo Switch 2. The title includes the base game, along with all of the expansions that were released for it throughout its life, as well as more options through the Creation Club. Bethesda is also continuing its post-launch support for 2018’s Fallout 76, with a new free update—The Backwoods—having just come out.

“Today’s our February company meeting,” wrote Iron Galaxy Studios last week. “It’s time to catch up with what the company’s been up to and what’s coming up next for IG.” This post was followed up by Josh Sawyer—the director for the original Fallout: New Vegas—with his own social media post about how “the time for posting has ended,” and “the time of making games is upon me.”

It certainly helps that Iron Galaxy Studios is no stranger to working with Bethesda in some form or another. This includes its work on the Nintendo Switch port for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim from, as well as the PC VR ports for Skyrim and Fallout 4 in 2017. The studio has also worked on Fallout 76, supporting Bethesda Game Studios in the development and post-launch support for the multiplayer game.

As for why Iron Galaxy’s tease is more likely to be related to Fallout: New Vegas rather than a brand new project, a similar orange color scheme was used throughout the 2010 open-world RPG, especially thanks to the fact that it used the Mojave Wasteland—set in the same location as the Mojave Desert in the real world—as its primary setting. This, along with the timing of Sawyer’s post, serves as a strong indicator that we might be getting close to an official Fallout: New Vegas reveal. While Fallout 3‘s remaster might also be in the works, it is unlikely to be a part of this tease since its primary color scheme uses green.

Since the release of Fallout: New Vegas and its DLC, Sawyer has worked on three major projects—Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, and Pentiment.

The Fallout series has seen renewed interest from the fandom thanks to the success of Amazon’s live-action adaptation of the franchise. While just about every mainline entry in the series is beloved to some degree, Fallout: New Vegas in particular has been considered to be among the best in the franchise thanks to its strong writing and well-developed characters.

Fallout: New Vegas puts players in the shoes of a courier for the Mojave Express who, while out on a delivery, is ambushed by a mysterious man in a checked coat and his thugs. Ultimately, the protagonist is shot in the head and left for dead in a shallow grave. However, a friendly cowboy robot manages to save you, and with the help of a local doctor, gets you back on your feet. It is now up to you to figure out who ambushed you, how you can get the stolen package back, and how you can finish your delivery.

Today’s our February company meeting. It’s time to catch up with what the company’s been up to and what’s coming up next for IG.

— Iron Galaxy Studios (@irongalaxystudios.com) 2026-02-26T20:56:28.220Z

the time for posting has endedthe time of making games is upon me

— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer.bsky.social) 2026-02-26T15:42:49.853Z

Fallout 3 might have seen the smallest rise, going from peaks of up to almost 700 concurrent players to almost a thousand since the second season of the Fallout show. Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4 have been seeing much more drastic upticks in players. Where Fallout 4 would typically see around 22,000 concurrent players before December, it has been hitting almost 33,000 players daily. Fallout: New Vegas, on the other hand, usually saw around 8,000 players, which has now gone all the way up to around 15,000 since the show’s season two premiere.

While the single-player titles have been seeing more players, Fallout 76 isn’t being left behind either. The multiplayer game’s typical average of around 20,000 concurrent players has been rising since December, peaking at almost 30,000 earlier this month. The popularity of the Amazon TV show has likely played a major role in this rise in player figures, but the fact that its season two premiere coincided with Steam’s Winter Sale also likely helped in getting the games into the hands of more players.

Rush had spoken about players hopping on to these classics last year, noting that Bethesda plans to continue supporting players in the live-service Fallout 76. The subject had come up in light of the multiplayer title getting its Glow of the Ghoul update, which allowed players to turn their characters into Ghouls.

Looking ahead, reports have indicated that Bethesda might be working on a remastered release of Fallout 3 in the same vein as The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which will likely mean improved visuals and more polished gameplay. A recent report noted that, despite its silence, the company still plans to release the game. However, when it will make the announcement is still currently unknown.

As for what we might see in the future, Fallout director Todd Howard has said that Fallout 5 will take the events of the Amazon show into account for its story. “In short, yes. Fallout 5 will exist in a world where the stories and events of the show happened or are happening. We are taking that into account,” he said.

Howard had also noted that Bethesda had been “working on a whole bunch of stuff” for the Fallout universe back in December. In his statement, he acknowledged fans asking for remasters of Fallout 3 or New Vegas, and asked them to wait until Bethesda is ready to make an announcement. While you’re at it, also check out what he thinks about the Fallout: London mod for Fallout 4.

In the interview, Howard also said that Bethesda has been keeping an eye on fan comments about Fallout 3 or New Vegas getting remastered, and that the company will show off what it is working on at some point.

“The first thing is we get it, right? We see all those comments,” said Howard when asked about remastering Fallout 3 or New Vegas. “I alluded to it when I was on the stream. And just to let people know, like we see it. We’re working on a whole bunch of stuff. And, you know, we look forward to the day that we can reveal them.”

“I would say, in general, I prefer to wait. I like the moment that you learn about something. So I would say to the fans that, yep, we get it, but I’m always thinking about the moment that you find out. When you launch a game, when you press play, when you download something and it’s all there, what are you thinking? What do you already know? So I start with that moment, and I back up.”

Howard is essentially referring to the idea that he likes to keep things surprising for fans of Bethesda’s works for as long as he possibly can. One example noted in the interview was the shadow drop of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which was released without too many people expecting it except for the few leaks leading up to its launch.

He also referenced his pre-recorded message to fans of the Fallout franchise during Fallout Day back in October, where he spoke about how Bethesda still has plenty of things that it is working on in the Fallout universe. However, even at the time, he noted that more details will only be revealed when Bethesda was ready to do so.

“Even though I am recording this — it’s not live — and I’m probably watching myself right now from my desk and I’m reading your chat and these… that thing you want and this other thing you want… Hey, we read it all. Just know we are working on even more. We are looking forward to the day when we can share that with everybody,” said Howard in his message.

Fallout Day saw the announcement of quite a few things, including Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition, as well as details about the Burning Springs update for Fallout 76. While the former launched to a largely-negative reception, with the company promising fixes with more updates, the latter was released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One earlier this month.

“We looked at all kinds of things,” he said. “I know people are probably tired of me saying this, but Fallout: New Vegas was a big inspiration for us.” Along with New Vegas, however, Adler also said that “the newer Deus Ex games” were also inspirational, referring to 2011’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution and 2016’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

Adler has been revealing quite a few details about The Outer Worlds 2 over the last month. In a recent interview, he revealed that the upcoming RPG will not allow players to respec their builds. While he noted that there are games that provide that option and it’s not the “wrong” choice by any means, it is simply the wrong choice for The Outer Worlds 2.

“There’s a lot of times where you’ll see games where they allow infinite respec, and at that point, I’m not really role-playing a character, because I’m jumping between – well, my guy is a really great assassin that snipes from long range, and then oh, y’know, now I’m going to be a speech person, then respec again, and it’s like… for me, it’s not wrong that people like to play like that,” said Adler.

“Look, if we’re going to do The Outer Worlds 2, I want to make sure that the role-playing is really strong,” he continued. “I want to make sure that you’re building your character and really doubling down – making sure that role-playing comes through the whole experience.”

Adler also spoke about how the RPG mechanics of The Outer Worlds 2 will reinforce players’ choices by giving them consequences and a generally reactive world and story. He noted that this comes down to respecting the player’s time, and in exchange, getting the respect of players for the choices they might have to make.

“We want to respect people’s time, and for me, in a role-playing game, this is respecting somebody’s time,” Adler explained. “Saying your choices matter, so take that seriously – and we’re going to respect that by making sure that we give you cool reactivity for those choices that you’re making. That’s respecting your time.”

“So you know your question was, was, how do you cater to that? And I would say you’ve got to be clear with people early on what the experience they’re getting is. If that’s not for them, that’s understandable. We hope that we can convince you that it is – but I’m also not going to make a game for literally everybody because then I feel it waters down the experience a lot.”

The Outer Worlds 2 is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29.

John Gonzalez, who served as the lead writer on Fallout: New Vegas, has returned to Obsidian Entertainment. He announced the same on LinkedIn, confirming that he is returning as a Creative Director. It’s unknown what project he’s working on, but elsewhere on his profile, he says it isn’t a sequel to Fallout: New Vegas.

Gonzalez departed from Obsidian Entertainment in 2011. Since then, he has worked as lead narrative designer on Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and narrative director on Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West.

Obsidian Entertainment has two major titles due out this year in the form of Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2.

EA Sports FC 24 came in a close second followed by Helldivers 2, which has turned out to be one of the biggest surprise hits of the year. Total sales of video games in the region amount to 2.23 million units, which is 7% lower than April of last year. In a similar vein, sales of game consoles are also down by 39%, as reported by Gamesindustry.biz.

The recent release of Fallout’s TV series is the primary reason behind this sudden surge in sales, and other entries like Fallout 76 and Fallout: New Vegas have also seen similar spikes in sales for the month. Bethesda also released new information on the upcoming Fallout 76 Skyline Valley expansion that releases in June – read more on that here.

Fallout 4 enjoyed an even bigger boost. On Sunday, it hit a peak of 164,190 concurrent players on Steam, which is roughly twice as many concurrent players as it had at its peak last week, and the highest that number has climbed in nearly a decade, since late 2015. Last week, it also emerged that Fallout 4 had topped the best-selling charts in Europe, with sales growing by a whopping 7,500 percent.

Meanwhile, other modern Fallout games continued seeing increasing activity and engagement from players as well. Fallout: New Vegas, for instance, hit a peak of 43,632 concurrent Steam players on Sunday, falling slightly short of its all-time peak of over 51,000 concurrent players. Fallout 3, on the other hand, hit over 11,000 concurrent players, setting a new peak for itself.

Recently, Amazon announced that it had officially greenlit its Fallout series for a second season.