I want to establish my old school RPG sicko bona fides really quick: My favorite Fallout games are 1 and New Vegas. My least favorite is 3 (4 is better than it gets credit for in critical circles). I really did not like Starfield and did not make it past the first planet. Obsidian is one of my favorites to ever do it. Troika Games forever.

With that out of the way, it is deranged how a lot of fans talk online about Bethesda as a studio, and Todd Howard as a guy. I have no doubt as to the accuracy of Kuhlmann's assessment of his former boss.

And I don't blame Howard one bit for being protective of the series in this way⁠. It's pretty relatable, and I'm sure it wasn't the only consideration around avoiding mainline-style spinoffs, as Kuhlmann's thoughts on ESO indicate.

Reading this in bad faith, you could parse it as an admission of weakness or insecurity, but I don't see it that way. I've spoken to senior Bethesda devs myself and watched them in other interviews: They're proud of their own work, speak positively of New Vegas, and seem to respect their peers at Obsidian. I think it's YouTubers impugning their character or calling for their coworkers to be fired over a perceived mishandling of the series that gets on their nerves.

Fallout memers seem to have gotten what they wanted, but in a monkey's paw kind of way. Obsidian is making a new Fallout game now, but with a gun to its head. Given all the layoffs and studio closures Xbox has under its belt, with more no doubt on the way, it doesn't feel like anybody's winning.