New Vegas was originally meant to be an expansion for Fallout 3, Todd Howards has just revealed. This comes from a retrospective on New Vegas' development, shared as part of Fallout 25th anniversary celebrations, with both Bethesda and Obsidian teaming up to reflect on the fan-favourite entry.
In the video, Todd Howard explains the process of getting Obisidian to work on a Fallout game, revealing that it was almost a "big expansion pack" for Fallout 3. It seems that Bethesda changed its mind fairly early on, however, with Howard personally pushing for Obsidian to get its own game.
"We had finished Fallout 3, and we were always going into the next project even before one comes out," says Howard, reflecting on Skyrim and Fallout 3's overlapping development. "And then Fallout 3 comes out and it's a really big hit for the company, and they're like 'okay, so what's the follow-up?'"
As Howard explains, the higher-ups at the studio were eager to capitalize on Fallout 3's success. However, with Skyrim already in production, it became clear that Bethesda would have to reach out to another developer for the Fallout 3 expansion.
Howard says there was only one developer Bethesda had in mind for this: Obsidian, a studio formed by devs who worked on the first two games. Using Fallout 3 assets, they got to work on the follow-up.
"It actually started as a big expansion pack for Fallout 3," says Howard "I felt really strongly that it should be its own game."
The video also features Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart, and game director Josh Sawyer, sharing their own perspective on New Vegas' production. They explain why the game was so different from the first two Fallouts, as they knew they had to appeal to the fans Fallout 3 brought in.
New Vegas would go on to become a fan favourite, but development was far from smooth sailing. While obviously not mentioned in this official, PR-friendly video, New Vegas had a development cycle of just 18 months. This led to a whole lot of bugs and content needing to be cut from the final game. That didn't stop New Vegas from amassing a cult following though, with many hoping to see Obsidian work on another Fallout game.