With Starfield out the door, Bethesda can finally begin to refocus on the long-awaited next Elder Scrolls game. However, while The Elder Scrolls 6 is finally out of pre-production, Fallout 5 is a long way off. Todd Howard previously mentioned that Bethesda had a one-pager outlining a rough idea for the game, but it will still be many years before pre-production even starts.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is expected to launch in 2026 or later, and the phrase "or later" might be doing a lot of heavy lifting. While Starfield's development was unusually long, it usually takes Bethesda between five and seven years to develop a new game. Fans might not see Fallout 5 until the mid-to-late 2030s. Fallout 4 turns 10 in 2025, and 20+ years is an absurdly long amount of time between mainline Fallout games. Therefore, it might not be a bad idea if Bethesda wanted to let another studio take the reins temporarily.

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Fallout Needs More Spinoffs

Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, many consider New Vegas one of the best Fallout games, with some saying it is the high point of the series. While a common internet rumor describes bad blood between Obsidian and Bethesda, there is no real indication this is true. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Obsidian's Chris Avellone and Josh Sawyer both talked positively about working with Bethesda. Meanwhile, in a 2021 Reddit AMA, Todd Howard spoke positively about New Vegas, saying, "Great game, big fan of Obsidian and we have many friends there."

In general, it shows that Bethesda has had a positive experience with outsourcing its big franchises to make spinoffs. Howard has also said it's unlikely Bethesda ever lets an outside studio make a game like New Vegas again, but that was years ago, and before Microsoft acquired Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, so it's not clear if that policy is still in effect.

This does not necessarily mean that Bethesda needs to bring Obsidian back to make a direct sequel to Fallout: New Vegas. There is a lot more of Fallout's America left to explore, and spinoffs seem like a great way to do that. Bethesda's Fallout games all take place on or near the East Coast, though there is some evidence Fallout 5 might see a return to California. Either way, a Fallout spinoff in somewhere like Seattle, St. Louis, or New Orleans probably wouldn't step on Bethesda's narrative toes.

Obsidian is currently busy with Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, but that might not be a dealbreaker, depending on when those games come out. Bethesda also has other options, especially if it wants to keep things with the ZeniMax family. Machine Games, for example, has done well marrying character-focused storytelling with satisfying FPS gameplay in the new Wolfenstein games. Other options might be id Software or its Rage 2 co-developer Avalanche Studios, the latter of which has plenty of experience with open-world games.

These spinoffs could also be an opportunity to experiment a bit with the IP. For example, it might be interesting to see a Wolfenstein-style shooter set in the Fallout world. Alternatively, Arcane Studios could create a Dishonored-inspired stealth game in the Fallout setting. Getting a bit more experimental, Bethesda could even give the franchise the Halo Wars treatment and partner with a studio like Relic Entertainment or Creative Assembly to make a Fallout RTS.

Of course, none of those ideas would be the same as Fallout 5. Bethesda just needs to do something with the franchise between now and 2035. Contracting other studios to develop one or more spinoff games, whether in the mold of New Vegas or something else entirely, would be an excellent way to keep the franchise alive during what's likely to be a very long wait for Fallout 5.

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