Elder Scrolls Spin-Off Proposals By Obsidian Were Reportedly Turned Down By Bethesda

wccftech.com:

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