Bethesda Rejected An Elder Scrolls Spin-Off From The Fallout New Vegas Devs

thegamer.com:

Obsidian reportedly pitched multiple Elder Scrolls games to Bethesda, including one that would have acted like a Fallout New Vegas-esque spin-off adventure if it hadn't been rejected.

As beloved as Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 are, if you ask most fans of the series what their favourite modern game is, chances are that they're going to point to Obsidian's spin-off, Fallout New Vegas. Over the years, the in-between adventure through the Mojave Wasteland has become the shining star of what a modern Fallout RPG is capable of, and it's something that we apparently nearly saw happen to the Elder Scrolls.

Over on Twitter, game writer Chris Avellone, who worked on Fallout New Vegas and other titles like Dying Light 2 before some since-settled sexual misconduct allegations saw his work removed from the game, retweeted a news story from 80 Level that showed him confirming in 2022 that Obsidian pitched multiple Elder Scrolls spin-offs after finishing development on Fallout New Vegas.

Avellone confirmed once again that the team proposed a few different Elder Scrolls games, with one of them intended to act as a spin-off game between mainline titles like New Vegas did for Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. Avellone said that the idea was to allow Bethesda more time to make its "core releases" by having a game from Obsidian set in the same world while those titles were being developed.

"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."

Although it might seem like a strange move from Bethesda to reject something that sounds like such a great idea, it's worth noting that