Fallout: London is not something Bethesda would make themselves (Picture: Team FOLON)
As Bethesda hints at new Fallout games in the future, it’s made it clear that they’ll only ever be set in the US, despite Fallout: London.
It was rumoured yesterday that Microsoft is keen to get a new Fallout game out ‘sooner rather than later’, but that goes without saying given the unexpected success of the Amazon TV show and the massive boost it’s given to the popularity of the existing games.
In a new interview, Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard has hinted at future games, although given no serious work has yet begun on Fallout 5, it’s still unclear if any major titles can be released anytime soon.
But what he also talked about was the nature of the games, making it quite clear that the series would never be set anywhere other than the US.
‘My view is part of the Fallout schtick is on the Americana naivete and part of that. And so, for us right now, it’s okay to acknowledge some of those other areas but our plans are to predominately keep it in the US,’ said Howard on the Kinda Funny Games podcast.
‘I don’t feel the need to answer… It’s okay to leave mystery or questions, ‘What is happening in Europe, what is happening here’. In Elder Scrolls everyone wants to go to these specific lands, and I’m known for saying the worst thing you can do to mysterious lands is to remove the mystery.’
His answer is very similar to how Rockstar (at least when producer Dan Houser was still with the company) has talked about GTA, but while the Grand Theft Auto series is acclaimed for its biting satire, that’s not something Fallout is as well known for.
While the news may be disappointing to some it’s probably for the best given how badly things like Watch Dogs Legion – which is set in London – turned out, when a North American team tried to set a familiar franchise in another country. (That shouldn’t stop Rockstar North though, who are British, but it’s a long time now since GTA: London 1969.)
Howard made no reference to the fan-made mod Fallout: London, which was almost ready for launch before the recent release of the Fallout 4 next gen update, but it implies he has no intention of making it an official part of the Fallout franchise.
Elsewhere in the same interview, Howard addresses the problem that no new Fallout game is expected for a long time (perhaps not until 2030 or later, if Fallout 5 is not due until after The Elder Scrolls 6) and the seemingly intractable problem that modern triple-A games take six years or more to make.
‘They do take a long time, and so I think one of the things we’re focused on here is obviously making sure they’re of the highest quality, but also finding ways to increase our output, because we don’t want to wait that long either, right? It’s never our plan, but we want to make sure we get it right,’ said Howard.
Howard tried to counter the fact that there is no new Fallout game out now, to accompany the show, by pointing to new content for Fallout 76 and then vaguely alluding to new titles that may be in development.
Fallout: Miami is also made by fans but maybe Bethesda could adopt it? (Picture: Fallout Miami development team)
‘We look at what we’re doing with the franchise and then we say, ’Do we still feel good about – I can’t reveal it now – here’s our runway for Fallout as a franchise? When is season 2 [of the TV show] happening? What are we doing on mobile? What are we doing on 76? What are we doing with this thing? What are we doing with this other thing? When are these landing?
‘And, again, if I could snap my fingers and have them all be out and ready, I would, but the main thing is how do we deliver these at a high quality level? That’s always the most important.’
For a company as infamous for bugs and glitches as Bethesda, rushing anything doesn’t seem like a good idea but as vague as these suggestions of future games are, even then there’s no real hint that a mainline entry might be imminent.
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At a different point, the subject of New Vegas was brought up and Howard vaguely implied new games or content to do with it; a remaster or remake still seeming like the most obvious way to plug the gap until Fallout 5, especially as the second season of the Amazon leans more into that game’s mythology.
If that’s what’s happening though he certainly didn’t spell it out, with his comments seeming to rule out more than they promised.
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