After all these years,Fallout 3feels like a fluke. It nailed the series’ signature satire with Liberty Prime stomping through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, wading through the rubble for communists in a Cold War allegory so on-the-nose it makes President Dick Richardson look subtle. Then along cameFallout 4, a vapid shadow of what the series once was, the edges so sanded down that even the ghouls started to look like smoothskins. Bethesda doesn’t have the chops for a property like this anymore.
Starfieldonly hammered that point home.
Many assume that, like The Elder Scrolls, it’s a bona fide Bethesda IP, but it really isn’t. Fallout got its start at Black Isle Studios under Interplay, the remnants of which became Obsidian Entertainment—that’s whyNew Vegasfeelsso intrinsically Fallout. With Bethesda busy on so many different projects of its own, there’s no reason—especially under Microsoft’s wing—that it needs to cling onto Fallout so tightly. Someone else should take the reins, just as it once did.
It Wouldn’t Be The First Series To Swap Hands Under Bethesda
Indeed,this is what insider Jez Corden claimed might be happening. Earlier this week, he alleged that Fallout 5 had been greenlit, but that he wasn’t “entirely sure” who was making it. Bethesda might seem the obvious answer after developing the last three games, butTodd Howard stressed that the team wants to get The Elder Scrolls 6 done first, and that’s not to mention the rumoured second Starfield DLC. If Bethesda were to lead Fallout 5, we’d probably be waiting another decade.
Fallout 4 came out when I was 15. At this rate, I’ll be in my mid-30s once the next one rolls around.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier argued against this rumour, claiming that “Xbox didn’t lay off thousands of people so they could move those resources to new projects”, but I still think there’s merit to the idea. A new studio doesn’t just mean we’ll get a game quicker; it also means we’ll get a fresh perspective. After three Fallout games, it feels like Bethesda is running on fumes, more focused on gimmicky gameplay mechanics and base building than cultivating an interesting world worth exploring. A fresh perspective is exactly what the series needs.
There’s already a precedent for this at Bethesda and its parent company, Microsoft. Machine Games took overWolfenstein, bringing about some of the most exhilarating FPS campaigns of all time. 343 Studios’ tenure onHalois more controversial, but Infinite was a stellar shooter, with an incredibly underappreciated online scene.Crash Bandicootlikewise passed hands, with Toys for Bob taking the reins, and the result was a critically acclaimed sequel that was even nominated for Best Family Game at The Game Awards.
Legacy franchises being done justice by a new studio has a proven track record in Bethesda’s own backyard, so it would hardly be far-fetched to imagine it passing the torch itself. Especially with a series that isn’t even its own.
Who Could Develop Fallout 5?
The obvious choice for ‘who could take over Fallout from Bethesda?’ is—you guessed it—Obsidian. It already proved its pedigree when it developed New Vegas, but it also continued the series in spirit withThe Outer Worlds, which is basically Fallout in space (but better than Starfield, the other Fallout in space).
Beyond its expertise, its speciality lies on the West Coast, lending to its Black Isle roots, which is a far more interesting setting. Sporting a rich history, it’s no wonder the show chose this as its backdrop, tapping into the legacy of the NCR and Enclave: post-war civilisations and factions that have given new life to the wasteland. In this hypothetical Fallout 5, we could revisit San Francisco and Southern California, or even venture up north to Seattle and Portland.
The dream is aLarian-developed Falloutthat returns to the isometric, turn-based days.
If not Obsidian, there are countless other studios under Bethesda and Microsoft’s umbrella, and a completely new team might revitalise Fallout in the same way that showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner have at Amazon. Machine Games, which has proven its capability of biting satire with Wolfenstein, could offer an interesting new take, perhaps venturing to the Midwest or Hawaii. Or what about inXile, likewise born of Interplay’s collapse in the early ’00s? It’d be fascinating to see what it might make of the series. Hell, even a rogue choice like Double Fine—maybe they would embracethe sillier days of talking deathclaws and supermutants in power armour.
With Bethesda still at the helm, Fallout 5 will probably launch after the TV series has wrapped with several seasons under its belt, and even then, going by Starfield and Fallout 4, I’m not sure it’s a game I’d care about. Fallout can’t afford to be toothless: its entire aesthetic is a parody of ‘50s commercialism, American exceptionalism, and Cold War tensions. We need a studio that is willing to embrace those ideas and try new things, rather than watering down the same hogwash we’ve been drinking for a decade now.
