Obsidian Director Brandon Adler Defends Studio’s DNA After Layoffs, Fallout Pivot
Obsidian Entertainment’s Brandon Adler, game director on The Outer Worlds 2, has publicly pushed back against a wave of online commentary suggesting the veteran RPG studio has lost its creative identity, insisting the “DNA” behind Knights of the Old Republic II and Fallout: New Vegas still runs through everything the team makes today. His remarks, posted to LinkedIn and first surfaced by Eurogamer, land in the middle of a turbulent week for the studio, which is absorbing fresh layoffs while pivoting away from a planned Avowed sequel toward an all-new Fallout title.
Adler Says Obsidian’s “DNA” Hasn’t Changed Since KOTOR2
Writing directly to critics questioning whether Obsidian is the same studio that made 2004’s Knights of the Old Republic II, Adler acknowledged the roster and games have evolved but argued the underlying creative core hasn’t. “Is Obsidian the same as it was 20 years ago?” he wrote. “No, of course not. Nothing stays the same. But the DNA at Obsidian is the same as it always was. The same DNA that created KotOR, New Vegas, NWN2, and Stick of Truth.”
He went further, pointing to continuity in the studio’s leadership as proof the throughline is real rather than nostalgic branding. “In most circumstances, the people in lead or director roles are the same people that worked on games like The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, and New Vegas. Like, literally the same people. The through line from KotOR2 to our current games is pretty clear.”
Adler didn’t hold back on the tone of the online discourse he was responding to, either. “Just remember, when you are seeing people spouting off about Obsidian, running their mouths about who we are now vs. what we were then, you are listening to someone crow about something with zero insight into how a game is made and who contributed to our previous games.”
Layoffs Hit Obsidian As Xbox Trims Roughly 1,600 Roles
The post came against a grim backdrop. Obsidian Entertainment, which just released Avowed, Grounded 2 (Early Access), and The Outer Worlds 2 all in the same calendar year, was hit hard in the first wave of 1,600 mass layoffs across Microsoft’s gaming division, with roughly 1,600 more reportedly still on the way. Xbox cut 50 staff from the studio and reportedly changed its development plans away from an Avowed sequel to a new Fallout game.
A separate California WARN filing cited by PC Gamer puts the studio-level figure slightly higher, noting a California WARN report shared by GameFile says 52 employees at Obsidian were let go in the layoffs, which Bloomberg says represents roughly a quarter of the studio’s workforce. Adler himself described the toll personally on LinkedIn, writing “This has been an extremely difficult week at Obsidian… Not only have I had to say goodbye to some amazing game developers, but I’ve had to say goodbye to some of my best friends. I truly feel for every one of them.”
Read also: Id Software Says Xbox Layoffs Shrank Studio to DOOM 2016-Era Size
Avowed 2 Cancelled, Josh Sawyer Now Leads New Fallout Game
The most consequential shift is the fate of Avowed’s sequel. According to reporting from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier that both PC Gamer and VGChartz corroborated, the sequel to Avowed, the outstanding 2025 first-person RPG set in the studio’s Pillars of Eternity universe, is one of multiple unannounced games in development that have been cancelled amidst the bloodletting. In its place, a new Fallout game is reportedly being headed up by Obsidian design director Josh Sawyer, who has an enviable record of RPG credits to his name, most notably as the lead designer and director of Fallout: New Vegas.
Notably, Sawyer wasn’t starting cold. A multi-game studio, Obsidian was also working on other things, including a game headed up by studio design director Josh Sawyer that had many similarities to a Fallout-style RPG. He’ll reportedly be leading the new Fallout game now instead. VGChartz’s account of the same Bloomberg report frames the broader restructuring bluntly: Xbox first-party studio Obsidian Entertainment has cancelled multiple projects as it shifts work on a new entry in the popular Fallout video game series, this according to people familiar with the matter, following the mass layoffs at Xbox that saw around 25 percent of the studio laid off. The studio was previously working on two RPGs, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, which both launched in 2025. A sequel to Avowed has been cancelled as part of the shift, along with other unannounced projects, and the new plans will see Studio Design Director Josh Sawyer take the lead with the new Fallout title.
Xbox Doubles Down On Its Biggest Franchises
The Obsidian shake-up fits a pattern Kotaku identifies across Microsoft’s gaming division this year: it all comes as Xbox doubles down on its biggest franchises and retreats from the Game Pass-era strategy of letting acquired studios pursue new, diverse projects aimed at reaching new subscribers, with Xbox CEO Asha Sharma reportedly wanting the next Halo and Fallout games out faster than previously planned, though both still seem likely to be years away. That timeline caution is echoed elsewhere in coverage of the pivot, which stresses no release window or platforms have been confirmed for the new Fallout project.
For Kiwi and Australian players who picked up Avowed or The Outer Worlds 2 through Xbox Game Pass over the past year, the practical upshot is that a sequel in that fantasy setting is off the table for now, with Obsidian’s next big narrative swing instead landing back in the wasteland Sawyer helped define with New Vegas in 2010. Whether Adler’s insistence on studio continuity translates into another New Vegas-calibre RPG remains the open question hovering over the project.
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