Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer has a long history with the post-apocalyptic RPG series going back to his time at Black Isle Studios, the development house that originally created the franchise. There, he worked on the original Fallout 3 – codenamed Van Buren – before financial troubles killed the project and the company. According to Sawyer, Fallout was a dream project, and he figured he'd never get another chance at the series. That is, until New Vegas came along.
After the release of Fallout 3, Bethesda wanted to return to The Elder Scrolls to create what would eventually become Skyrim. But the company still wanted to keep Fallout's successful revival going, which is why it wanted to offer a spin-off project to another studio. Obsidian, which was founded by a number of ex-Black Isle employees, seemed like a perfect fit.
