New Vegas Lead Writer Rejoins Obsidian

Fallout: New Vegas lead writer John Gonzalez has rejoined Obsidian Entertainment. The industry veteran left Obsidian nearly 15 years ago.

New Vegas is widely regarded as one of the best-written Fallout games ever made. This reputation is largely attributed to Gonzalez, who was the game’s creative design lead and lead writer. After wrapping up work on Fallout: New Vegas, he also worked as narrative designer on all four of its DLC packs: Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road. Gonzalez left Obsidian in February 2011, joining Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith Productions the following month.

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Nearly 14 years later, the industry veteran is back at Obsidian. Gonzalez announced his return via LinkedIn at the tail end of January 2025. His official title at the studio is that of Creative Director. In an update to his LinkedIn profile, Gonzalez explicitly stated that he’s not working on a New Vegas sequel. While disappointing, this information likely won’t come as a surprise to the most attentive of fans, as Fallout: New Vegas 2 has long seemed like a pipe dream.

Fallout: New Vegas Lead Writer Might Be Working On Obsidian’s Mysterious Unity Game

Gonzalez offered no other hints about what he will be working on at Obsidian. The Microsoft subsidiary currently has two known games in development: Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2. The former is scheduled to hit the market on February 18, while the latter is also targeting a 2025 release. Since both projects are nearing completion, Gonzalez could feasibly only contribute to their DLC. However, given that he was appointed to a senior role, that doesn’t seem too likely, as Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 both already have creative directors. Instead, Gonzalez might be taking the lead on Obsidian’s mysterious Unity-powered game that’s believed to have been in pre-production since at least 2023, according to some previously surfaced job listings.

John Gonzalez’s Game Development Credits

Another possibility is that Gonzalez is returning to lead an entirely different, fourth project. However, with Obsidian’s current workforce of around 300 employees, that seems unlikely, as the company is presumably already stretched thin with its existing games, even assuming it outsources aggressively.

Modern AAA game development cycles have been growing longer in recent times, now typically taking at least five years. This industry trend indicates that whatever project Gonzalez is set to begin leading at Obsidian likely won’t see the light of day until 2030 at the earliest.

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October 19, 2010

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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs