Word is Josh Sawyer started working on a Fallout game, but couldn’t get Bethesda to let him call it “Fallout,” so things were reworked into a completely standalone game.

Now that MS wants more Fallout, they pressured Todd to loosen his grip, and the Sawyer game is back to its original intent. It’s still in development, but it has had some time to get actual work done, so it’s closer than if they just started last week.

Again, lots of whispers and rumors, so take that with as much salt as necessary.