The Fallout IP is now one of the most important ones in the Xbox’s portfolio with Halo and Minecraft (Fallout 4 is the biggest success ever in Bethesda’s history) and lots of people are waiting for a new Fallout game.
However, there is a huge problem: the IP is super popular, there is a big demand, a new Fallout game would take a lot of time to be made (FO4 took 6 years including the pre-production) but… Obsidian and Bethesda are both quite busy with their current projects (Starfield, TES 6, Avowed, Grounded, The Outer Worlds 2…).
Bethesda Austin (the team behind Fallout 76) seems also busy continuing to improve and support FO76.
We all saw that tweet from Obsidian:
More anecdotally but still interesting, their CEO (Feargus), who worked on Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout New Vegas, also put a Fallout banner on his Twitter account:
People immediatly think about a New Vegas 2 sequel. But it’s something that Obsidian can’t do at the moment as they have no team for such a big project.
However, a remake of New Vegas would be a more realistic possibilty as it could be outsourced (I guess) to a 3rd-party developer while Obsidian could just act as an overseer (like 343 Industries with the Halo CE: Anniversary and Halo 2 Anniversary remakes that have been made by Saber Interactive and Certain Affinity).
New Vegas is a fantastic game that has 2 flaws in my opinion: poor graphics (even for 2010) and it’s unfinished and rushed.
A remake of New Vegas with the Halo 2 Anniversary treatment would be fantastic in my opinion, and I wouldn’t mind not having New Vegas 2 if I could get a sublimed New Vegas. Something in that style:
(from the New Vegas teaser and opening cutscene)
I don’t know what could be the engine though. Maybe the new overhauled Bethesda’s engine that they’re using for Starfield and TES 6 ?
New Vegas also had an extremely rushed development (18 months !!) and suffered from the limits of the Xbox 360 and PS3. As a result, there was a massive amount of cut content and dropped ideas that never made it to the game at the end (KOTOR 2 again… 
).
Some of these were amazing.
And it clearly shows in the game: some places feel really empty and unfinished, the Legion content is clearly weaker than the other factions content…
Several Vaults were also cut. So many things
So, here’s a realistic alternative to Fallout 5 and New Vegas 2 as they probably aren’t happening anytime soon:
- remake of New Vegas with new graphics (Halo 2 Anniversary treatment, excluding Blur cutscenes and the new soundtrack)
- Fallout 4’s gunplay
- all of the cut content and dropped ideas that Obsidian feel should be included in a definitive edition
- all of the DLCs (Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, Lonesome Road)
- outsourcing if possible so Obsidian and Bethesda still work on their projects
- call it “Fallout: Return to New Vegas”
I’m certainly dreaming (New Vegas is one of my favorite games ever and I feel it deserves justice + I would love to play all of that cut content 
) but I guess that would be the best approach for MS regarding the Fallout IP at the moment (and I don’t think they want to sit on the IP for another 7 or 8 years).
- You would get an almost-perfect Fallout game exactly as Obsidian envisionned it on the paper
- It would be way easier and faster to develop than a full-fledged new Fallout game (which would require a new open-world, a new story, everything from ground-up…)
- Possibly outsourced
- Fans would be super happy
- It would probably be a great success (both critically and commercially).
I don’t have a clue what could be the 3rd-party developer to create that hypothetical remake (maybe it’s a lot more difficult that remaking Gears of War, Halo 2, Shadows of the Colossus or Demon’s Soul ?) but I think that would be the best compromise as both Obsidian and Bethesda are too busy to make a new game. 
