It is now being reported that multiple Elder Scrolls “spin-off” proposals were turned down by Bethesda, missing the chance to expand the franchise while the developer worked on other IPs like Fallout and the recently released Starfield.
The news comes from Chris Avellone, the veteran game designer who worked as Chief Creative Officer and writer on Fallout: New Vegas, the one spin-off Bethesda did approve. Avellone, one of the founders of Obsidian Entertainment, has revealed that while he was still at the company, he pitched ideas to develop spin-offs similar to that game for the Elder Scrolls series, but the idea was rejected by the firm. Avellone has confirmed the authenticity of this news, claiming that Bethesda had no interest in creating an Elder Scrolls title resembling FNV.
This is true. One of the Elder Scrolls proposals (which I pitched) was intended to serve the same function as FNV did between F3 and F4, to provide more adventures in the setting during the years before the next Bethesda release. https://t.co/7yJNkn8cUY
— Chris Avellone (@ChrisAvellone) December 18, 2023
Avellone hasn’t stated a reason behind the rejection of the proposal, and we probably won’t know about it since Bethesda tends to keep this kind of stuff in-house. Avellone further expanded on the idea, claiming he desired a mechanism similar to what Call of Duty had going with Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and later Sledgehammer Games. He believed involving Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda would seem like a “less rushed” approach, but the pitch didn’t gain much traction. The idea is even less likely to be implemented now since the existence of The Elder Scrolls Online makes it even less appealing in terms of bridging the gap between new installments made by Bethesda (such as the upcoming The Elder Scrolls VI, now in early development).
Avellone believes Bethesda wasn’t influenced by the release of Fallout: New Vegas, maybe since the game did have multiple issues at launch, mostly due to bugs and performance issues. There was also the famous episode where Obsidian didn’t receive any bonuses as they were tied to reaching an average Metacritic of 85, but the game stopped at 84.
However, Fallout: New Vegas became a cult classic in the following years, to the point where it is now considered among the best installments in the franchise and one of the most remarkable roleplaying games ever made. Modders are still actively working on it, and there have been rumors of a sequel now that both Obsidian and Bethesda are under Microsoft’s wing.
As for Chris Avellone, the man was accused of misconduct and sexual harassment in June 2020, leading to various studios cutting ties with him. However, the case was eventually resolved in his favor earlier this year, with the two accusers formally retracting their claims.
