John Gonzalez, lead writer on Fallout: New Vegas and Horizon: Zero Dawn, has announced his return to Obsidian Entertainment after 14 years elsewhere in the industry – but not, he suggests, to work on a Fallout: New Vegas 2.
Gonzalez originally joined Obsidian in 2008, after a two year stint as lead narrative designer at Ubisoft. He was only with Obsidian for a little over two years, but his impact – as “lead story guy” on the hugely beloved Fallout: New Vegas – was significant. He was responsible for its quest and “most of” its dialogue, introducing characters such as Mr. House and Yes Man.
After that, Gonzalez spend two and a half years at Monolith Productions, working as lead narrative designer on the acclaimed Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and in 2016 he made the move to Guerrilla Games, where he served as narrative director on the hugely popular Horizon: Zero Dawn and its sequel. Since then he’s worked on a number of smaller projects – including his “ultimate video game novel” God Mode – and now he’s come full circle.
Gonzalez announced his return to Obsidian Enterintament in a brief post on LinkedIn, and his updated profile confirms he’s officially joined as the studio’s new creative director. As to what he’ll be working on, that isn’t yet known beyond vague allusions to “exciting times”. Gonalez did, however, append a quick note adding, “No, it’s not Fallout: New Vegas 2.”