Bethesda just dropped the Fallout announcement fans have wanted for over a decade

After years of rumours, leaked court documents, and fans relying on the legendary A Tale of Two Wastelands mod to seamlessly stitch Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas into a single adventure, Bethesda Game Studios has finally confirmed that remasters of both games are officially in development. The announcement came as part of a lengthy update outlining the studio's future plans for Fallout, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls. A Bloodborne remake and Half-Life 3 are pretty much the only gaming pipe dreams left.

In a message celebrating the studio's 40-year history, Bethesda revealed that it has been "working on remasters for both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas," adding that it is not yet ready to announce launch dates. Bethesda has yet to say whether the remasters will be limited to visual upgrades or include gameplay refinements and modern quality-of-life improvements, but at this point, anything is an improvement over the vanilla New Vegas experience. The remaster announcement was only one piece of Bethesda's roadmap.

Fallout 76 is set to receive a major expansion next year titled Raven Rock, a prequel story to Fallout 3. With the original Fallout squad back under Xbox's umbrella, the premise has already led some longtime Fallout fans to wonder if Raven Rock could borrow ideas from Van Buren, Black Isle's cancelled Fallout 3 project. Bethesda also confirmed that it is once again partnering with Obsidian Entertainment on a new, as-yet-unannounced Fallout project. This isn't particularly new information because Asha Sharma explicitly stated it in her post about Xbox's future.

The project has the potential to be a return to form for Obsidian because the studio has since reunited several Fallout veterans, including series co-creator Tim Cain, making it one of the industry's deepest repositories of Fallout talent. Elsewhere, Bethesda reaffirmed its commitment to Starfield, promising new Starborn content and continued updates heading into the game's third year. While Starfield divided opinion at launch, it has carved out a niche with a dedicated fanbase.

And finally, the elephant in the room: The Elder Scrolls VI. Bethesda confirmed the long-awaited successor to Skyrim has become its primary development focus, with it being built on Creation Engine 3. According to Bethesda, development is progressing as planned, with the team already playing The Elder Scrolls 6 internally and "loving how it looks." There's still no release date in sight, unfortunately.

Alongside Obsidian's Fallout project, Bethesda is hard at work developing Fallout 5. It, too, will use Creation Engine 3 like The Elder Scrolls 6. History has a funny way of repeating itself. Fifteen years ago, Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas ended up overshadowing Bethesda's own Fallout 3 in the eyes of many RPG fans. With Obsidian once again developing a Fallout title alongside Bethesda's Fallout 5, lightning might just strike twice.