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Among all of gaming, the Fallout series holds a special place in the heart of the gaming community. Its post-apocalyptic world has captured the community’s attention with intricate storytelling, engaging world-building, and moral choices.

The two titles that stand heads and shoulders above the rest are Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Both games offer players unique and innovative perspectives on the wasteland and its survivors. Josh Sawyer, Director of New Vegas, was also close to being part of Fallout 3 but lost the opportunity.

Sawyer’s Role in Fallout 3: A Missed Opportunity

New Vegas’ Director Josh Sawyer missed his chance to work on Fallout 3 | Bethesda Studios’ Fallout 3

In an interview, Josh Sawyer shed some light on his involvement in the franchise. He also shared the circumstances that led to his departure from Fallout 3 (Codenamed Van Buren). Despite having a pivotal role in crafting one of the best games in the series,...

Josh Sawyer’s Fallout: New Vegas is widely regarded as one of the best games in the Fallout series as well as one of the best RPG games of all time. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks, Fallout: New Vegas was a spin-off of the main Fallout series but still shared some elements from the main series. It’s nearly impossible to tell how gamers would react to certain mechanics of a video game before its release, but Fallout: New Vegas‘ director Josh Sawyer explained that it is purely based on “vibes.”

Fallout: New Vegas

Most games in the market right now go through various testing phases, but Sawyer explained that in terms of ability and weapon balance, he doesn’t focus much on player feedback as it simply “doesn’t really matter to him.” He admitted that conducting a simulation before the final release would be beneficial,...

Obsidian Entertainment design director Josh Sawyer caused a bit of a stir recently when he revealed via Twitter that he’s directing a new game for the company that doesn’t seem to be related to any of the projects the studio has previously talked about.

I am directing my own project now (it's just not Avowed).

— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) August 5, 2020

Had Sawyer not included that last bit, we may have just assumed that he was directing Avowed. After all, Sawyer’s previous design and directing credits include games like Icewind Dale and Pillars of Eternity. On the surface, he would seem like the perfect person to direct a fantasy RPG.

If Sawyer isn’t working on that game (at least not in a directing capacity), then this tweet raises interesting questions about what else Sawyer (and Obsidian Entertainment) are currently working on.

After all, we know that Obsidian is working on Avowed,...

The 71st annual Writers Guild Awards are being handed out tonight in simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. Deadline will be updating the winners here as they are announced.

Here is the complete list of winners announced so far at the 2019 Writers Guild Awards, followed by the list of nominees:

News Script – Analysis, Feature, Or Commentary

“Wounds of War” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News

Documentary Screenplay

Bathtubs Over Broadway

Written by Ozzy Inguanzo & Dava Whisenant; Focus Features

Comedy Series

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Written by Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino, Amy Sherman Palladino; Prime Video

Children’S Episodic And Specials

“The Ersatz Elevator: Part One” (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay by Daniel Handler; Netflix

Short Form New Media Original

Class of Lies, Written by Tessa Leigh Williams; Snapchat

Quiz And Audience Participation

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,...

The Writers Guild has announced its 2019 Writers Guild Awards nominations, and the top contenders all made the cut: “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” “Eighth Grade,” “Green Book,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Roma,” “A Star Is Born” and “Vice.” Additionally, “”A Quiet Place” is showing strength with the Guilds, winding up with PGA, SAG and WGA nominations.

WGA omissions include “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which won two Golden Globes Sunday, and Paul Schrader’s acclaimed “First Reformed,” which was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Critics’ Choice and Indie Spirit awards.

Titles not eligible because they don’t conform to the WGA Minimum Basic Agreement include Fox Searchlight’s “The Favourite,” Bleecker’s “Leave No Trace,” Annapurna’s “Sorry to Bother You,” BAFTA nominee “The Death of Stalin” and CBS Films’ “At Eternity’s Gate,” as well as foreign films “Capernaum,” “Cold War” and “Shoplifters.” Animated features are not eligible,...

The Writers Guild has announced its 2019 Writers Guild Awards nominations, and the top contenders all made the cut: “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” “Eighth Grade,” “Green Book,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Roma,” “A Star Is Born” and “Vice.” Additionally, “”A Quiet Place” is showing strength with the Guilds, winding up with PGA, SAG and WGA nominations.

WGA omissions include “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which won two Golden Globes Sunday, and Paul Schrader’s acclaimed “First Reformed,” which was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Critics’ Choice and Indie Spirit awards.

Titles not eligible because they don’t conform to the WGA Minimum Basic Agreement include Fox Searchlight’s “The Favourite,” Bleecker’s “Leave No Trace,” Annapurna’s “Sorry to Bother You,” BAFTA nominee “The Death of Stalin” and CBS Films’ “At Eternity’s Gate,” as well as foreign films “Capernaum,” “Cold War” and “Shoplifters.” Animated features are not eligible,...

Left to right: Noah Jupe plays Marcus Abbott and John Krasinski plays Lee Abbott in A Quiet Place, from Paramount Pictures.

The Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and the Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in screenwriting and videogame writing during 2018. Winners will be honored at the 2019 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 17, at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

Original Screenplay

Eighth Grade, Written by Bo Burnham; A24

Green Book, Written by Nick Vallelonga & Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly; Universal Pictures

A Quiet Place, Screenplay by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski, Story by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck; Paramount Pictures

Roma, Written by Alfonso Cuarón; Netflix

Vice, Written by Adam McKay; Annapurna Pictures

Adapted Screenplay

Blackkklansman, Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee, Based on the book by Ron Stallworth; Focus Features

Black Panther, Written...

Big commercial hits and a number of awards-season regulars made the cut as the WGA announced its 2019 Writers Guild Awards nominees for outstanding achievement in screenwriting writing during 2018. Check out the full list below, which also includes video games.

The Original Screenplay category covers comedy, drama and horror as the scribes behind Eighth Grade, Green Book, A Quiet Place, Roma and Vice will vie for the hardware. The Adapted Screenplay race is among BlackKklansman, Black Panther, If Beale Street Could Talk, A Star is Born and Can You Ever Forgive Me?

In a banner year for documentaries, the writers of Bathtubs Over Broadway, Fahrenheit 11/9, Generation Wealth and In Search of Greatness will battle it out for the WGA trophy.

Winners will be announced Sunday, February 17, at dual ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

Original Screenplay

Eighth Grade

Written by Bo Burnham; A24

Green Book

Written by Nick Vallelonga...

Matthew Byrd Jan 27, 2017

Isometric RPG Pillars Of Eternity is getting a crowdfunded remake, its developer has announced...

After a few weeks of quiet speculation, Obsidian has now confirmed that the new game they have recently been teasing is a follow-up to their successful isometric RPG, Pillars Of Eternity.

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The fabled RPG developer has launched a new campaign on crowd-funding platform Fig for Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire. They are currently seeking a not insignificant goal of $1.1 million for the development of the sequel.

In exchange for that money, Obsidian is promising to deliver a sequel that begins with the return of the god Eothas. On his return, Eothas leaves you for dead and forces you to embark on a journey that can only end when you confront the god and get answers to questions concerning yourself, the mortal world,...

Matthew Byrd Jan 20, 2017

Fallout and Pillars of Eternity sequels are among the leading possibilities as Obsidian teases its next videogame...

Given that Obsidian Entertainment has made some of the greatest RPGs to ever grace the gaming world, people tend to pay attention to whatever they decide to work on next. 

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That's especially true when the project in question is a bit of a mystery. 

Obsidian has posted a single image on their Twitter account and homepage that shows a piece of wheat and a pipe in hammer and sickle formation hovering above the words, "I used to dream that when my god came back, he would forgive us. That's the trouble with dreams. Sooner or later, we all have to wake up.

The developer behind Fallout: New Vegas and South Park: The Stick of Truth are looking to make an isometric, party-based RPG and they're looking for help in getting it off the ground.

Their big pitch is Project Eternity (working title) under development with Obsidian designers Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, and Josh Sawyer, and it's an attempt to capture the look and feel of Baldur's Gate.

The Kickstarter page for Project Eternity promises tactical, real-time combat with a pause system with some dialogue-based gameplay thrown into the overall adventuring.

Obsidian justifies the daunting $1.1 million goal for the campaign by explaining that their team is not only creating a game, but a whole world with art assets, lore, and dialog. Is it too much? It does feel like a million and change is beyond the normal scope of most Kickstarter campaigns (although a few have crossed that mark with more modest...

A Fallout: New Vegas dev provides some insight to 1Up about what may be causes some of the woes plaguing gamers across its various platform.

Lag: apparently, some PS3 Elder Scrolls V players have it and Obsidian Entertainment project director Josh Sawyer has some thoughts about why performance issues have caused trouble for Bethesda's latest. It's especially an issue on the particularly on the PS3, and based on his experience working with the engine used for Fallout: New Vegas--which similarly faced performance issues upon release--offered up some ideas about their origins for Skyrim. Note, Sawyer's comments were based on a November correspondence to 1Up, prior to the recent patch which itself caused some new complications for gamers.

Apparently, the lag issue for the PS3 version of the game can be traced to the way that the 360 and PS3 handle memory, with the PS3 divvying up its memory at 256 megs for...

"Dead Money," the first Dlc pack from Bethesda Softworks for "Fallout: New Vegas," hit Xbox 360 in late December and the rest of gaming's digital download services in February. We haven't heard a peep from Bethesda yet on the next Dlc pack, though there were strong hints of what is to come buried in "Dead Money." Now there are a few (admittedly tiny) screenshots for a pack called "Honest Hearts," pulled from an accidentally posted trailer on YouTube.

The largest of the three screens is an action shot, with the player character smacking what appears to be a scantily clad woman with some kind of primitive mace.

That really doesn't sound good, does it? Presumably she attacked first.

The other two tiny images offer up a title screen and an expansive red rock vista. The images all come from a poster at Duck and Cover (via Kotaku). They're so small that...

Fallout: New Vegas will have a concrete ending to the game. Project director Josh Sawyer explained that in-game events would make it impossible to play past the finale of the adventure. "We put a lot of effort into the ending slides - we know those slides are really popular with people so we want to make sure there's a huge amount of variety and reactivity with that stuff," he told 1Up. "We weren't really focused on new features so much as to add a really rich sense of reactivity to the players and the choices they make. "We want to make it a definitive ending. Initially, we talked about trying to support post-game play, but because the changes that can happen at the end of the game are pretty major, this is what it basically came down to: either have the changes feel really major in the end slides and...

Bethesda and Obsidian recently showed off a number of locations from the next "Fallout" entry, but the one area they kept strictly under wraps is the titular city itself. New Vegas, surrounded by walls and seen by we pressers from only a great distance in game, is the sort of destination we can only dream about at the moment.

While questions were obviously reeling in our minds there were a few tidbits of information we were able to glean from our extensive tour of the game and subsequent one on one with lead designer, Josh Sawyer.

What do we know about New Vegas?

Don't Expect the Same Skyline.

Sawyer was quick to point out that New Vegas is not based on the Las Vegas we know today. The entire "Fallout" universe, as it's been devised, is set after a nuclear fallout in the year 2077 -- a world which is strikingly...

Josh Sawyer, the lead designer on "Fallout: New Vegas," has very strong feelings about the world in which the game is set. It's a far cry from the D.C. Wasteland, and not just geographically. In a lot of ways it's actually the next step in an attempt to return to civilization.

"One of the things we're focusing on with 'New Vegas,' is that this is a post-post-apocalyptic society. Governments have formed and have congress. There are large slaver armies and big merchant caravans."

The differences between the two worlds aren't just a matter of increased infrastructure, though. Sawyer described the world as "much more political." "'Fallout 3' presented the Enclave as very very bad, and the Brotherhood of Steel as very good in opposition to the Enclave," he explained. "In 'New Vegas' we're presenting the landscape a bit differently. You might think the [New California Republic] is purely good, but they're not purely good.