Bethesda added a 'newvegas2' branch to Fallout 4, fueling rumors of a New Vegas follow-up

Fallout: New Vegas key art of the ranger
(Image credit: bethesda)

Fallout fans are puzzling over changes made to Fallout 4's backend on Steam after an update on April 4, visible on SteamDB, added a branch labeled "newvegas2". It's the kind of change a developer might make in advance of new content being added, or a beta test beginning, but the way it was named has made players wonder if it could mean Bethesda is planning a sequel to Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas, or a remastered version in Fallout 4's engine.

A day later, Bethesda deleted the branch, perhaps to quell all that speculation. Which it hasn't succeeded in doing, because we're still here, speculating away.

The most likely answer is that it's connected to the Fallout 4 next-gen update Bethesda announced would be coming in 2023, and said will include "performance mode features for high frame rates, quality features for 4K resolution gameplay, bug fixes and even bonus Creation Club content!" When the similarly gussied-up Skyrim Anniversary Edition came out, as well as including all the Creations previously available for Skyrim, it came with 26 new ones, including several that referenced earlier Elder Scrolls games Morrowind and Oblivion

So it could be that this branch was simply named in honor of a new Creation Club pack themed around New Vegas. There's already a Creation in the store that adds an anti-materiel rifle direct from the NCR, so Bethesda clearly isn't averse to popping a bit of Obsidian's Fallout game into their own. You can even get a suit of ranger armor to dress up like you're on the New Vegas box art in Fallout 76—something that would probably be quite easy to port from there into Fallout 4.

While a collection of gear and power armor paint jobs representing all the factions of the Mojave seems more likely, the idea of a New Vegas sequel, even if it comes as Fallout 4 DLC, certainly has appeal. Just last year, Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart said he'd "love to make another Fallout game." And obviously there are people who'd like to see a remastered version of New Vegas made with Fallout 4's engine, because the Fallout 4: New Vegas mod is essentially doing just that, while on a smaller scale the Project Mojave mod has recreated several New Vegas locations, with a companion mod bringing over some of its, well, companions—namely Veronica, Arcade, Raul, and Rose.

Here's hoping that Bethesda learned its lesson from the launch of Skyrim Anniversary Edition and whatever ends up in Fallout 4's next-gen update isn't quite such a headache for modders. It'd also be nice if its new additions were a little more exciting. Back when the Creation Club was first added to Fallout 4, Chris took it for a test drive and was just sort of whelmed by its offerings. 

Meanwhile, if you want to replay Obsidian's entry in the series made all shiny and new, you don't need to wait for a hypothetical remaster. Modders have got you covered, and we've got a guide to tweaking it so you can have the best Fallout: New Vegas experience.

Jody Macgregor
Weekend/AU Editor

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.

Read more
Fallout New Vegas screenshot from ultrawide PC gaming monitor showing robot with crying face
Fallout: New Vegas lead writer returns to Obsidian after leaving 14 years ago, but before you ask, no, 'It's not FNV2'
Male and Female Vault Dweller holding guns and cresting a hill with ruined city in background
The New Vegas remake of the Fallout 3 that never was just got its first demo, not to be confused with the straight-up remake of the cancelled Fallout 3 or, indeed, Fallout 3
Skyblivion evil character
With the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout games still years away, here are 6 upcoming total conversion mods for Skyrim and Fallout 4 to get excited about
Mortimer Goth swanning around inside a New Vegas casino built inside the Sims 2
A Fallout: New Vegas fan is so fed up waiting for a remake he's decided to do it himself. The twist? He's making it in the Sims 2
Fallout New Vegas Key Art
The Fallout season 2 leaks continue with videos of the New Vegas set, including a sign for Mr. House's casino
Chief Hanlon sits in his usual spot at Camp Golf.
If you want Fallout: New Vegas to look a little more lived-in, these mods have you covered
Latest in Fallout
Male and Female Vault Dweller holding guns and cresting a hill with ruined city in background
The New Vegas remake of the Fallout 3 that never was just got its first demo, not to be confused with the straight-up remake of the cancelled Fallout 3 or, indeed, Fallout 3
Lucy smiling while using her pip boy
Ella Purnell dreads being typecast for her 'poop finger' in Fallout: 'This finger is the bane of my life'
Fallout 76 - a player in a vault suit gives a thumbs up
Fallout 76's former project lead says it's still his favourite game he worked on, but the initial reception was demoralising: 'I got yelled at in an Apple Store, I'll never forget'
Mortimer Goth swanning around inside a New Vegas casino built inside the Sims 2
A Fallout: New Vegas fan is so fed up waiting for a remake he's decided to do it himself. The twist? He's making it in the Sims 2
Maybe I'll finally stop getting lost in Fallout: New Vegas' Bison Steve Hotel thanks to this new minimap mod
A jumpsuit-clad Lucy, played by Ella Purnell, emerges from a vault in the Fallout TV series.
Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins sure are excited for everyone to see Fallout season 2: 'No one's going to be able to predict what happens. There's some big twists this time around'
Latest in News
A smiling man in military fatigues
Get in here, stalker: Stalker 2’s Patch 1.3 is here with a whopping 1,200 fixes
Public Eye trailer still - dead-eyed police officer sitting for an interview
I'm creeped out by this trailer for a generative AI game about people using an AI-powered app to solve violent crimes in the year 2028 that somehow isn't a cautionary tale
Gallywix wears an uneasy smile as he's confronted by Xal'atath in WoW: The War Within.
After 12 days and 100s of wipes, World of Warcraft's latest world first raid ends in anticlimax: 'That's the boss?!?'
A photograph of the opening slide of a Microsoft lecture on Cooperative Vectors at GDC 2025
AMD, Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia are all excited about cooperative vectors and what they mean for the future of 3D graphics, but it's going to be a good while before we really see their impact
Larian CEO Swen Vincke brandishes a sword at the camera and smiles.
Larian’s Swen Vincke subtweets anyone still fixated on singleplayer games’ commercial viability: 'They just have to be good'
Machinery tools and equipment,Rolls of galvanized steel for production metal pipes and tubes for industrial ventilation systems in factory.
New super-thin '2D' metal sheets could enable ultra-low power chips and can you guess how they're made? Yup, by squishing stuff really hard