Fallout: New Vegas developer says Bethesda doesn't have the 'engineering know-how' to remaster the game

Setting aside the multiplayer offshoot Fallout 76, it's been over a decade since single gamers have gotten a proper single-player Fallout game to sink their post-apocalyptic teeth into. Even so, the franchise remains as popular as ever, thanks in part to the success of the Amazon Prime Video adaptation, which has delivered two seasons of acclaimed wasteland action so far.

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When it comes to Fallout 5, the current word from Bethesda Game Studios is that the team will tackle that after it completes development on the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls 6. And with that, when you factor in that modern games are taking longer and longer to develop, there's a good chance it could be 20 years between mainline Fallout releases. Which is why rumors are pointing to remake-style remasters for both Fallout 3 and fan-favorite Fallout: New Vegas.

Depending on the source, both games are reportedly getting overhauled similarly to last year's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered release, which, naturally, has Fallout fans excited. However, according to Fallout: New Vegas designer and writer Chris Avellone, a remake or remaster is unlikely.

In fact, the veteran RPG developer who has long since left the Fallout: New Vegas studio, Obsidian Entertainment, says Bethesda doesn't have the "engineering know-how to make a remaster of New Vegas at all." The comment was made during a recent interview with TKs-Mantis, where Chris Avellone explains that Obsidian didn't hand over the source code to Bethesda, making a full remake difficult.

However, he did go on to say that the Oblivion Remastered approach of using Unreal Engine 5 as a visual wrapper over the original game could potentially work, but that's something that would need to be tested with Fallout 3 first. So, the good news is that a New Vegas remaster is still possible, with a full-blown remake being a tall order due to the lack of source code. Well, according to this one former Fallout: New Vegas developer.