Fallout 5 is the upcoming entry to Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic RPG series. While its release might be far off, it is surely the holy grail for fans who want more of nuclear wasteland and super mutants.
With Starfield’s release out of the way, The Elder Scrolls 6 is Bethesda’s next project on the horizon. Of course, there will be DLCs for Starfield dropping in between (Shattered Space being the first of them). However, we can take an educated guess that Bethesda will start talking more about Fallout 5 after The Elder Scrolls 6’s release, which itself is years away.
While Bethesda has been tight-lipped about future projects, more so about Fallout 5, we have collated all the information about the hotly-anticipated game in this article.
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When Was Fallout 5 Officially Announced?
In an interview with IGN in 2022, Todd Howard mentioned Fallout 5 to be one of the future projects at Bethesda. It is the same interview where it was confirmed that Fallout 5 will follow The Elder Scrolls 6 as part of Bethesda’s pipeline in terms of their full game releases post-Starfield.
“Yes, Elder Scrolls 6 is in pre-production and, you know, we’re going to be doing Fallout 5 after that, so our slate’s pretty full going forward for a while. We have some other projects that we look at from time to time as well.”
When Will Fallout 5 Release?
Fallout 5 has no official release window as of now. However, we can make a rough guess considering the recent BGS titles’ development timeline.
Fallout 4 (2015) came out 4 years after Skyrim’s initial release (2011). This was followed by Fallout 76 (2018) and Starfield (2023). Keeping a similar timeframe in mind, we can expect TES6 to be out by 2028, and Fallout 5 by 2033 (yes, it seems like an eternity!).
Will Todd Howard Be Fallout 5’s Game Director?
In the same interview mentioned above, Howard made it known that TES6 will be his last Elder Scrolls game. However, that keeps his involvement in the upcoming Fallout entry still a possibility. Considering, Todd Howard is 53 years old at the time of this writing, it may not be too much of a stretch to expect him still at the helm for Fallout 5.
Fallout 5 Story & Setting
If you are familiar with the Fallout series, you may have already spotted a pattern about its setting. Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, which are developed by Bethesda Games Studios, are set in Washington and Boston respectively. This is in contrast to the original Fallout titles (1 and 2) and Fallout New Vegas, which have different areas in the US West Coast as their setting.
The fan theory is that Bethesda does not want to break the original Fallout canon and that’s why keeps themselves limited to reimagining the post-apocalyptic versions of the eastern regions of the US.
Notably, in 2016, there was news about a trademark application for ‘Fallout New Orleans’. While it could just be a shelved project (like Fallout Van Buren back in the day), it could also be what Fallout 5 is supposed to be. New Orleans also checks the east/west divide mentioned above.
Even without that, New Orleans might be a fantastic setting. The Fallout series is not alien to marshlands, but having an entire game set in the swampy deep South could give Bethesda more freedom in terms of landscape and creature variety.
When Will Development Start For Fallout 5?
In a 2021 interview with IGN, Howard mentioned Bethesda having a one-pager on Fallout 5 at that point. One-pagers in the video game industry usually refer to high-level documents outlining very broad ideas about a game even before it reaches pre-production. It may include the game’s concept, plot, mechanics, target audience, and unique/novelty ideas.
Considering two years have passed since that and Starfield has been released, it just might be the case that Bethesda has advanced a few steps past the one-pager. However, with no information made public, we can only speculate. In any case, Bethesda is known to take on one project at a time. Howard’s reply about future projects sums it up well enough:
“Again, if I could wave my hand and have [Fallout 5] out – you know, I’d like to find a way to accelerate what we do, but I can’t really say today or commit to anything, [like] what’s going to happen when.”
What Do We Want From Fallout 5?
Branching Storylines And Actual Consequences
As we have seen with Fallout New Vegas’ resurgence and reaching a cult status after its rocky launch in 2010, RPG players like it when there are real consequences to action. Lock us out of a faction questline because we chose to go against them in our playthrough!
We hope there will be tangible impact of choices in individual playthroughs that will make subsequent runs more refreshing. It makes no narrative sense when players can pursue both United Colonies Vanguard and Crimson Fleet questlines at the same time in Starfield. Hopefully, Fallout 5 learns from Starfield’s pitfalls and incorporates what made niche CRPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3 reach mainstream success — actual consequences to player choices.
Varied Dialog Options
This was a big talking point about Fallout 4. Dialog options were cut short and made simplistic, partially to accommodate a voiced protagonist. This, of course, did not mesh well with the fans of the prior Fallout fans.
With Fallout 5, we hope that Bethesda goes back to the silent protagonist route and gives players varied dialog options for more roleplaying freedom. This goes hand in hand with quality writing. While Starfield ticked off the reprise of the silent protagonist in Bethesda RPGs, the writing of “Fallout in space” surely leaves much to be desired which will hopefully be improved in Fallout 5.
Slow And Steady Progression
Fans were not happy when they encountered a Deathclaw in the opening hours of Fallout 4. While taking it down with the ramshackle Power Armor might be Bethesda’s way of addressing a new player’s power fantasy early on in the game, it meant future Deathclaw appearances failed to instill much scare.
Fallout 3 proved Bethesda’s capability to produce well-crafted game intros. Can we please have some more of that, Bethesda?
A More Refined Settlement System
The Settlement system debuted with Fallout 4, and Bethesda has improved upon it with Starfied’s Outpost system. It’s one of the ancillary elements that makes Bethesda RPGs what they are, and we would like Bethesda to polish it more for Fallout 5.
Fallout 4’s Sim Settlements 2 mod is a wonderful example of what Bethesda can achieve — give players options to turn their post-apocalyptic wasteland into a city-building simulator.
All things considered, we are in for a long wait for Fallout 5. Meanwhile, you can take a look at our picks for the best RPGs ever made.
