Fallout: New Vegas Was Nearly Just An Expansion
Sometimes, a tiny acorn grows into a mighty oak tree, and if one video game proves that more than anything, it's Fallout: New Vegas. Obsidian Entertainment's 2010 title was a gamble, but one that paid off. Even 12 years later, we're still asking about a fictional New Vegas 2.
Following the success of Fallout 3, Bethesda wanted to keep the reinvigorated series fresh but had busied itself with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Concerned that fans would grow tired of waiting for the entry, the developer handed over the reins to Obsidian, which took Fallout in a bold new direction.
Why Was New Vegas Nearly A Fallout 3 Expansion?
There's a lot going on with Fallout right now, as Bethesda celebrates 25 years since Interplay's original. Explaining how New Vegas came to be, Todd Howard told fans, "Fallout 3 comes out and it's a really, really big hit for the company, and they're like, 'Okay so what's the followup?', and I was like, 'Well we're doing Skyrim, so [then] it'll be Fallout 4."
"There was a push like... 'We should do a big expansion pack or something like that. Are there companies that we could have do it?' and we knew the folks at Obsidian, and there was sort of this immediate [thought that] there's only one group we would really want to do this. And it actually started as a big expansion pack for Fallout 3, and I felt really strongly it should be its own game."
Even if New Vegas became its own beast instead of a Fallout 3 DLC, the main game still got five of them: Operation Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta. All of them had their own merits, but they were a far cry from the acclaim and reinvention New Vegas brought to the table. Given how much of a rich world Obsidian created, it's hard to imagine New Vegas being reduced to just a DLC.
What's Next For Fallout?
Despite Fallout 76 being panned upon launch, it's had something of a Cyberpunk 2077 resurgence - with Bethesda outlining a five-year plan. Even if a lot of us might've given up on the once NPC-free title, there's a lot else to look forward to out there in the Wasteland. Namely, we're dying to know more about Fallout 5.
We know Bethesda is working on the fifth mainline series now it's been acquired by Microsoft, however, we're also told it's a long way off. Work will only start once The Elder Scrolls 6 is finished. If that wasn't enough, we recently got a first look at Amazon's Fallout series, which promised a game-accurate recreation in live-action. Sadly, there's still no news on a New Vegas sequel. Even if Obsidian has said it would love to return, we're not sure it'll ever happen. Oh well, back to dreaming of Fallout: New Orleans.
