Fallout (franchise)


Fallout is an American media franchise of post-apocalyptic role-playing video games created by Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, at Interplay Entertainment. The series, set in the first half of the 3rd millennium, follows the descendants of survivors of a mutually destructive nuclear exchange between the United States and China that marked the culmination of a series of conflicts over resources which began in the middle of the 21st century. The games share an atompunk retrofuturistic setting and artwork influenced by the post-war culture of the 1950s United States, with its combination of hope for the promises of technology and the lurking fear of nuclear annihilation. Fallout is regarded as a spiritual successor to Wasteland, a 1988 game developed by Interplay Productions.
The series' first title, Fallout, was developed by Black Isle Studios and released in 1997, and its sequel, Fallout 2, the following year. With the tactical role-playing game Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, development was handed to Micro Forté and 14 Degrees East. In 2004, Interplay closed Black Isle Studios, and continued to produce Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, an action game with role-playing elements for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, without Black Isle Studios. Fallout 3, the third entry in the main series, was released in 2008 by Bethesda Softworks, and was followed by Fallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian Entertainment released on October 19, 2010. Fallout 4 was released in 2015, and Fallout 76 released on November 14, 2018.
Bethesda Softworks owns the rights to the Fallout intellectual property. After acquiring it, Bethesda licensed the rights to make a massively multiplayer online role-playing game version of Fallout to Interplay. The MMORPG got as far as beta stage under Interplay, but a prolonged legal battle between Bethesda Softworks and Interplay disrupted the development of the game, eventually resulting in its cancellation. Bethesda argued in court that Interplay had failed to fulfill the terms and conditions of the licensing contract. The case reached a resolution in early 2012.

Origins

The ideas of the Fallout series began with Interplay Productions' Wasteland, released in 1988. At that time, Interplay was not a publisher and used Electronic Arts for distribution of the game. According to Interplay's founder, Brian Fargo, they wanted to explore a post-apocalyptic setting and created Wasteland for that. Sometime after release, Interplay decided to shift focus and become a publisher while still developing games. Fargo wanted to continue to use the Wasteland intellectual property but could not negotiate the rights back from Electronic Arts.
Still wanting to do something in a post-apocalyptic setting, Fargo and his team decided to make a new setting and game. They determined what aspects of Wasteland were positives and wrote and developed a new game around them. According to designer Chris Taylor, they took major inspiration from the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz and the films Mad Max 2 and The City of Lost Children. The result was the first Fallout games, which were released nearly ten years after Wasteland.

Games

Main Series

''Fallout'' (1997)

Released in October 1997, Fallout takes place in a post-apocalyptic Southern California, beginning in the year 2161. The protagonist, referred to as the Vault Dweller, is tasked with recovering a water chip in the Wasteland to replace the broken one in their underground shelter home, Vault 13. Afterwards, the Vault Dweller must thwart the plans of a group of mutants, led by a grotesque entity named the Master. Fallout was originally intended to run under the GURPS role-playing game system. However, a disagreement with the creator of GURPS, Steve Jackson, over the game's violent content required Black Isle Studios to develop the new SPECIAL system. Fallouts atmosphere and artwork are reminiscent of post–World War II United States during the Cold War era and the fear that the country was headed for nuclear war in the real world.

''Fallout 2'' (1998)

Fallout 2 was released in October 1998, with several improvements over the first game, including an improved engine, the ability to set attitudes of non-player characters party members and the ability to push people who are blocking doors. Additional features included several changes, including significantly more pop culture jokes and parodies, such as multiple special random encounters referencing Monty Python and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and self-parodying dialogue that broke the fourth wall to mention game mechanics. Fallout 2 takes place eighty years after Fallout, and centers around a descendant of the Vault Dweller, the protagonist of Fallout. The player assumes the role of the Chosen One as they try to save their village, Arroyo, from famine and droughts. After saving the village, the Chosen One must fight the Enclave, the remnants of the pre-war United States government.

''Fallout 3'' (2008)

Fallout 3 was developed by Bethesda Game Studios and released on October 28, 2008. The story picks up thirty years after the setting of Fallout 2 and 200 years after the nuclear war that devastated the game's world. The player-character is a Vault dweller in Vault 101 who is forced to flee when the Overseer tries to arrest them in response to their father leaving the Vault. Once out, the player is dubbed the Lone Wanderer and ventures into the Wasteland in and around Washington, D.C., known as the Capital Wasteland, to find their father. It differs from previous games in the series by utilizing 3D graphics, a free-roam gaming world, and real-time combat, in contrast to previous games' 2D isometric graphics and turn-based combat. It was developed for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 using the Gamebryo engine. It received highly positive reviews, garnering 94 out of 100, 92 out of 100, and 93 out of 100 averages scores on Metacritic for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, respectively. It won IGN's 2008 Overall Game of the Year Award, Xbox 360 Game of the Year, Best RPG, and Best Use of Sound, as well as E3's Best of the Show and Best Role Playing Game.

''Fallout 4'' (2015)

Fallout 4, developed by Bethesda Game Studios, was released on November 10, 2015. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, of the in-game New England Commonwealth and features voiced protagonists. The Xbox One version has been confirmed to have mods as of 2016. Bethesda also confirmed mods for PlayStation 4, after lengthy negotiations with Sony. A virtual reality version of the game was released on December 11, 2017, available on SteamVR. Fallout 4 takes place in the year 2287, ten years after the events of Fallout 3. Fallout 4s story begins on the day the bombs dropped: October 23, 2077. The player's character, dubbed as the Sole Survivor, takes shelter in Vault 111, emerging 210 years later, after being subjected to suspended animation. The Sole Survivor goes on a search for their son who was taken away from the Vault.

''Fallout 5'' (TBA)

In June 2022, Todd Howard stated in an interview that Fallout 5 would begin development after the completion of The Elder Scrolls VI, with an unspecified release window.
In July 2025, Fallout 5 was reportedly "fully greenlit," with development moving forward though the reporting outlet indicated that it remains unclear which studio is leading its production, as key studios at Bethesda were occupied with Starfield DLC and The Elder Scrolls VI at the time.

Spin-offs

''Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel'' (2001)

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is the first Fallout game not to require the player to fight in a turn-based mode, and the first to allow the player to customize the skills, perks, and combat actions of the rest of the party. Fallout Tactics focuses on tactical combat rather than role-playing; the new combat system included different modes, stances, and modifiers, but the player had no dialogue options. Most of the criticisms of the game came from its incompatibility with the story of the original two games, not from its gameplay. Fallout Tactics includes a multiplayer mode that allows players to compete against squads of other characters controlled by other players. Unlike the previous two games, which are based in California, Fallout Tactics takes place in the Midwestern United States. The game was released in early 2001 to generally favorable reviews. In 2020, Emil Pagliarulo stated that elements and lore from Fallout Tactics have been used in Bethesda Softworks' subsequent entries in the series.

''Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel'' (2004)

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel became the first Fallout game for consoles when it was released in 2004. It follows an initiate in the Brotherhood of Steel who is given a suicidal quest to find several lost Brotherhood Paladins. Brotherhood of Steel is an action role-playing game, representing a significant break from previous incarnations of the Fallout series in both gameplay and aesthetics. The game does not feature non-player characters that accompany the player in combat and uses heavy metal music, including Slipknot, Devin Townsend, and Killswitch Engage, which stands in contrast to the music of the earlier Fallout games, performed by The Ink Spots and Louis Armstrong. It was the last Fallout game developed by Interplay.

''Fallout: New Vegas'' (2010)

Fallout: New Vegas is a 2010 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. Set in the post-apocalyptic Mojave Wasteland in the year 2281, the game follows the story of the Courier, a mysterious protagonist left for dead after being ambushed while delivering a valuable package. Unlike previous Fallout entries, New Vegas introduces multiple factions vying for control over the region, with the New California Republic, Caesar's Legion, and the enigmatic Mr. House serving as key power players. The game is renowned for its deep branching narrative, player choice, and freedom in shaping the story. Gameplay is built on the same engine as Fallout 3, featuring first- and third-person combat, open-world exploration, and a robust dialogue system that significantly impacts the game's progression. The inclusion of Hardcore Mode, which requires players to manage hunger, thirst, and sleep, adds an extra layer of survival realism. The game's setting, inspired by real-world Las Vegas, features recognizable landmarks such as the New Vegas Strip, Hoover Dam, and the surrounding desert landscape filled with mutated creatures, raiders, and vaults containing hidden secrets. Players can choose to side with one of the major factions, forge their own independent path, or manipulate events to suit their personal goals. The game also features an extensive modding community that has kept it alive for years, with numerous fan-made expansions and graphical enhancements. Despite a rocky launch plagued with bugs, Fallout: New Vegas has since become a cult classic, often praised for its writing, dark humor, and deep role-playing mechanics. The game's DLC expansions—Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road—further expand on the lore, introducing new characters, environments, and moral dilemmas. Over a decade after its release, New Vegas remains a benchmark for storytelling in open-world RPGs, often considered the pinnacle of the Fallout series due to its player agency and world-building. Its legacy endures, with fans still hoping for a sequel or a modern remaster that could bring the game's beloved wasteland back to life.