Bethesda President Jill Braff informed Obsidian employees that the structural change is primarily administrative and will not affect the studio's creative independence.
Urquhart and the current leadership team will continue to manage Obsidian, reporting to Braff, while Bethesda Game Studios will retain control over the Fallout franchise. Obsidian continues to work on Grounded and a new game in the Fallout universe. A sequel to The Outer Worlds 2 is not yet planned.
Braff's letter reached Aftermath journalists. It followed another wave of layoffs and reshuffles within Xbox.
As a result of the reorganization, Obsidian lost 52 employees: 43 worked in the studio's offices in California, and another 9 were remote employees from the same state. According to Braff, the new Fallout game will be a continuation of the two studios' long-standing collaboration, and Bethesda will share details in the coming months.