Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer is the latest Fallout veteran to outline their specific terms for returning to the iconic RPG series

Fallout: New Vegas
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer says he'd be down to lead another Fallout game if he was asked, but it would depend on the boundaries and constraints placed on it. 

In a new Q&A video on YouTube, one fan asks Sawyer what his response would be if Bethesda or Microsoft approached him, asking him to lead a new Fallout project, and his initial answer is simple: "Sure," he laughs.

Of course, the reality isn't quite so simple though, as Sawyer explains: "With any project, I think it has to do with 'what are we doing? What are the boundaries that we're working within? What am I allowed to do and not allowed to do?' 

"I think that with any IP, especially one I've worked with before, the question is 'what do I want to do this time that I wasn't able to do last time?'" he continues. "And if those constraints are just really constraining, then it's not very appealing, because who wants to work on something where the one thing they want to explore is not possible to explore?"

Q&A #2 - YouTube Q&A #2 - YouTube
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That's not to say that Sawyer doesn't think there's anything left to be done with Fallout, though, as he notes: "I love the Fallout IP, I think there are still a ton of stories that can be told in there, and questions that can be asked about society." However, the same question of what restrictions and boundaries would be in place is still relevant, as it would be with basically any other game, by the sound of it: "Any IP really is kind of like that," he adds. 

Interestingly, this is the second time recently that a former Fallout dev has weighed in on what it'd take for them to return to the series. Back in June, the RPG series' co-creator Tim Cain said if he was asked to make a new Fallout game, his response would be "'What's new?'" He explained it wouldn't be a question of money, power or authority, but rather a "personal question" of "would this be something I'd even be interested in doing, because it's different?" 

Cain's and Sawyer's 'conditions' here are pretty similar, then, but at the time of writing, there's nothing to say that either of them definitely will return to the series at any point. To be fair, the future of the RPG series in general is still a bit of a mystery right now, with Fallout 5 a reality, but not one we're likely to see for some time, so we'll just have to sit tight for now.

Fallout New Vegas director Josh Sawyer explains why the RPG's opening is a perfect example of respecting the player's skill choices.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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