The developer of Fallout: New Vegas did not escape Microsoft’s Xbox layoffs unscathed.
Obsidian Entertainment, the developer behind the Pillars of Eternity series, The outer worlds And Fallout: New Vegasis being reshuffled as part of a larger Xbox reset and massive layoffs across Microsoft’s gaming business. Bloomberg reports that several projects from the studio have been canceled, including a sequel to Declared – and Obsidian will now focus on a new Fallout game.
Josh Sawyer, director of Fallout: New Vegas and the medieval adventure game Penmentwould lead the development of the new game. Bloomberg previously reported that Microsoft wanted to focus its studios on hit franchises like The Elder Scrolls, Doom, Wolfenstein and Fallout. Releasing a new Fallout game is particularly relevant given that Fallout 76a multiplayer survival game from 2018, is technically the most recent release and Fallout has now been adapted into a hit streaming series on Amazon Prime Video.
This change in direction of the studio is also accompanied by layoffs. Bloomberg reports that Obsidian is laying off about a quarter of its workforce. Based on WARN termination notices, Game file writes that the studio is specifically cutting 52 employees, 43 who work in the office in Irvine, California, and nine remote employees in the state. Xbox sister studio and Doom developer id Software has reportedly laid off about half of its staff, or more than 90 employees, according to Game file. Outside of its games division, Microsoft is also cutting an additional 3,200 jobs.
Microsoft acquired Obsidian Entertainment in 2018, a few years before the company’s massive purchase of Activision Blizzard King in 2022. The ongoing layoffs at Xbox and its studios are part of new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s attempt to address the woes of Microsoft’s gaming business, though it’s hard to see the massive layoffs as anything other than another obstacle to making good games.
