Fallout is a multi-media post-apocalyptic franchise originally created by Interplay Entertainment in 1997, later being acquired by Bethesda Softworks who assumed primary developing and publishing rights since 2008. To date, the series has included:
- Video games developed by Black Isle Studios, Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Game Studios Austin, consisting of:
- Five RPG/action RPG main entries (Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout 76)
- One action RPG spin-off (Fallout: New Vegas)
- One squad-based tactical RPG combat spin-off (Fallout Tactics)
- One action RPG dungeon-crawler spin-off (Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel)
- One simulation spin-off (Fallout Shelter)
- A tabletop roleplaying game (Fallout: The Roleplaying Game) developed and published by Modiphius
- A tabletop war-game (Fallout: Wasteland Warfare) developed and published by Modiphius
- A board game (Fallout: The Board Game) developed and published by Fantasy Flight Games
- A live-action television series (Fallout) co-produced by Kilter Films and distributed by Amazon MGM Studios
Background[]
The setting of the Fallout series is focused on a "what-if" scenario (referred to as the Divergence) in which the United States of America, following World War II, spearheaded a decades-long socioeconomic shift towards nuclear fusion as a power source, resulting in the country's evolution into a hegemony with a lessened reliance on petroleum by the latter half of the 21st century. By the 2060s, global affairs deteriorated as Earth's non-renewable resources began to deplete and whole nations were cracking under the strain, leading to the Resource Wars to acquire the few sources remaining. In particular, conflict over an oil drilling site in the Pacific Ocean aggravated tensions between the United States and the communist government of China, escalating into the full-fledged Sino-American War that lasted for around a decade up to 2077, when both countries resorted to a nuclear exchange on October 23, an event that became known as the Great War.
In the years leading up to the Great War, massive underground Vaults were constructed across the continental USA by the Vault-Tec Corporation, supposedly to protect the populace from the dangers of fallout in the event of nuclear war. Although a total of 122 were constructed, it's believed that over 400,000 would have been needed to protect the entire nation. This is due to the fact that the Vaults were never truly intended to save humanity; rather, they were social experiments being conducted by the United States government. Each of these experiments varied in lethality, complexity, and cruelty, often ending in disaster and causing the collapse of their respective Vaults, with few exceptions.
Starting from the series' first entry, each installment takes the player character protagonist to different locations around the landscape of the former United States, from mere decades to entire centuries after the nuclear apocalypse, observing the evolution of nature, the transformation of human civilization, and the efforts by people and groups of differing beliefs and ideologies to restore or destroy what remains.
Timeline[]
| Year(s) | Game | Location | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fallout 76 | Appalachia | 
| |
| Fallout | Southern California | 
| |
| Fallout Tactics | Midwest | 
| |
| Fallout 2 | Northern California | 
| |
| Fallout 3 | Capital Wasteland | 
| |
| Fallout: New Vegas | Mojave Wasteland | 
| |
| Fallout 4 | The Commonwealth | 
| |
| Fallout TV series season 1 | Greater Los Angeles area | 
| |
| Fallout TV series season 2 | Mojave Wasteland | 
|
Published games[]
Main games[]
The original two games were developed by Interplay's RPG division (named Black Isle Studios during the development of Fallout 2) and published by Interplay between 1997 and 1998.
In 2004, Bethesda Softworks licensed the rights to develop three Fallout games from Interplay. In 2007, they acquired the Fallout franchise entirely for $5.75 million. In 2008, Bethesda released Fallout 3.
Fallout[]
Fallout box art
Released in 1997 for DOS, Windows, and Macintosh, Fallout is the spiritual successor to the 1988 hit Wasteland. The protagonist of the game is tasked with recovering a water chip to replace the chip that broke in his home, Vault 13. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic southern California, beginning in the year 2161. It was originally intended to run under the GURPS role-playing game system, but a disagreement with Steve Jackson, creator of GURPS, over the game's violent content, required the development of a new system, the SPECIAL System.
Fallout 2[]
Fallout 2 box art
Fallout 2 was released in 1998 for Windows and in 2002 for Mac, using a slightly-modified form of the engine used in the original Fallout. Taking place in 2241, 80 years after the original game, Fallout 2 centers around a descendant of the Vault Dweller, the protagonist of Fallout. The player assumes the role of the Chosen One as he tries to save Arroyo, his village, after several years of drought. The game featured several improvements over the first game, including the ability to set attitudes of non-player character party members and the ability to push people who are blocking doors.
Fallout 3[]
Fallout 3 box art
Fallout 3 is a post-apocalyptic computer and console role-playing game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks as a sequel to Interplay's Fallout and Fallout 2. It was released on October 28, 2008, in North America and was released on October 31, 2008, in Europe for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
The game takes place in the year 2277 at the Capital Wasteland, on the East Coast of what used to be the United States, mostly in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia and is not a direct continuation of the previous games' story. The protagonist, a 19-year-old vault dweller from Vault 101, escapes the vault and embarks on a dangerous journey in search of their father, James, who mysteriously disappeared. The game's plot centers around the protagonist's search for their father, and the reemerging of a dangerous faction called the Enclave, who seeks to take control of the Capital Wasteland and eventually post-war America. The gameplay features include real-time combat and first or third-person perspective, in contrast to the previous games, which were turn-based and isometric.
Fallout: New Vegas[]
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Fallout: New Vegas box art
Fallout: New Vegas is a Fallout game built upon the same game engine used by Fallout 3, it was developed by Obsidian Entertainment which was announced by Bethesda. Fallout: New Vegas was released on October 19, 2010, in North America for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas in the year 2281, four years after Fallout 3. The protagonist, a courier for the Mojave Express, is dug out of a shallow grave by a robot after being shot in the head and the contents of what would have been delivered is stolen by their attempted killer. The game's plot centers around finding the main character's attempted killer and retrieving their stolen package, and the war between NCR and Caesar's Legion, as well as the inevitable intervention of Mr. House's New Vegas, over Hoover Dam.
Fallout 4[]
Fallout 4 box art
Fallout 4 is a Fallout game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 10, 2015, except in Japan, where it was released on December 17.
The game takes place in the year 2287, 10 years after the events of Fallout 3 (and six after New Vegas), in a post-apocalyptic Boston renamed "the Commonwealth." The story centers around the protagonist's son, Shaun, being kidnapped while they are in cryogenic sleep in Vault 111 and the protagonist's subsequent attempts to find their son amidst the controversy of a mysterious "Institute" reportedly replacing citizens of the Commonwealth with synths, androids meant to be as close to a human as possible.
Fallout 76[]
Fallout 76 box art
Fallout 76 is a multiplayer Fallout game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was announced on May 30, 2018, and released on November 14, 2018, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game currently requires online to play and is being updated each year.
The game takes place in Appalachia starting in 2102, 25 years after the Great War, and follows the story of Vault 76, one of the 17 known control vaults. The player character emerges from Vault 76 following a celebration of Reclamation Day, having been sent on a quest by the overseer. With updates such as Wastelanders, the story has been expanded to focus on the re-colonization of Appalachia by the Settlers, Raiders and the Brotherhood of Steel.
Spin-offs[]
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel[]
Fallout Tactics box art
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is a tactical combat game developed for Windows by Micro Forté and published by Interplay in early 2001. Tactics is the first Fallout game to not require the player to fight in a turn-based mode, and it is also the first to allow customization of skills, perks, and combat actions of the rest of the party. Fallout Tactics includes a multi-player mode. Fallout Tactics takes place in the Midwest, with a portion specifically taking place in the region known as The Belt.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel[]
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel box art
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel became the first Fallout game for consoles (PlayStation 2 and Xbox) when it was released in 2004. It follows an initiate in the Brotherhood of Steel who is given a quest to find several lost Brotherhood paladins. An action role-playing game, BoS is a significant break from the previous incarnations of the Fallout series, in both gameplay and style. BoS takes place in three locations including the towns of Carbon and Los and a secret vault. The game can be played local co-op with another player. BoS is the last Fallout game to be developed by Interplay.
Fallout Shelter[]
Fallout Shelter banner
Fallout Shelter is a non-canon construction and management simulation game. The player acts as an Overseer for their own vault, and controls dwellers' jobs, adding rooms to the vault, managing resources, fighting off raiders and emergencies and more. Players are sometimes rewarded with lunchboxes that contain rewards, such as items or resources. Lunchboxes can also be purchased separately through microtransactions.
Tabletop games[]
Fallout: The Roleplaying Game[]
Fallout: The Roleplaying Game is a tabletop role-playing game using a modified SPECIAL system with the 2d20 system, developed by Modiphius.
- Sourcebooks
- Supplements
- Settler's Guide Book
- Wastelander's Guide Book
- Fallout NPC Pack 1 - Rust Devils
- Fallout NPC Pack 2 - Enclave Remnants
- Fallout NPC Pack 3 - Reilly's Rangers
- Fallout 2d20: NPC Pack - Hollywood Heroes
- Fallout 2d20: NPC Pack 4 - Mariposa Military Base
- Scenarios
- Fully Operational
- Into the Abyss
- Machine Frequency
- Once Upon a Time in the Wasteland
- Orange Coloured Sky
- Raider Base of Your Dreams
- Showdown in Skull Canyon
- With a Bang, or a Whimper
- Map packs
Fallout: Warfare[]
Fallout: Warfare cover
Fallout: Warfare is a tabletop wargame based on the Fallout Tactics storyline, using a simplified version of the SPECIAL system. The rulebook was written by Chris Taylor, and was available on the Fallout Tactics bonus CD, together with cut-out miniatures. Fallout: Warfare features five distinct factions, vehicles, four game types, and thirty-three different units. The rules only require ten-sided dice. The modifications to the SPECIAL system allow every unit a unique set of stats and give special units certain skills they can use, including piloting, doctor, and repair. A section of the Fallout: Warfare manual allows campaigns to be conducted using the Warfare rules.
Fallout: The Board Game[]
Fallout: The Board Game box art
Fallout: The Board Game is a Fallout-themed board game published by Fantasy Flight Games. It is a tile-based game for one to four players, who can either compete or work together. Players can choose whether to play as a human, ghoul or super mutant. The player can also choose between four scenarios, taking place in the Capital Wasteland, the Pitt, the Commonwealth or Far Harbor. While exploring different location tiles, the players can gain equipment cards or special influence cards to advance their character. Each player also has a special character board, where they track equipment, hit points and radiation damage.
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare[]
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare box art
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare is a narrative skirmish wargame set in the Fallout universe. Published by Modiphius Entertainment, the game features a singleplayer, multiplayer, and co-op play.
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare Roleplaying Game[]
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare box art
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare Roleplaying Game, also referred to as the Fallout: Wasteland Warfare RPG, is a standalone expansion for Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, published by Modiphius Entertainment. It was released in July 2019.
Other[]
Fallout Shelter Online[]
Fallout Shelter Online promotional image
Fallout Shelter Online is a sequel to Fallout Shelter, developed by Chinese studio Shengqu Games, licensed by Bethesda Softworks, and distributed by Gaea Mobile. It was designed for the Asian market, and has not been officially released in Western markets. However, it has been translated into English and is available for download online. The game has a Chinese version and a global "SEA" version which features English. It shares similar gameplay elements with Fallout Shelter, with added gacha and quest features.
Bethesda Pinball's Fallout table[]
The Fallout table in Zen Studio's Bethesda Pinball collection, available as an add-on for Zen Pinball 2, Pinball FX 2 and Pinball FX 3, is a virtual pinball adaptation of Fallout 4. It was initially released as downloadable content on December 6, 2016, for a wide variety of platforms.
Fallout Free Style RPG Quest[]
Fallout Free Style RPG Quest was an 8-bit Japanese RPG based on Fallout 3. Created to promote Fallout: New Vegas in Japan and released via BethBlog on January 3, 2011, as a mini-flash game. Following the removal of the game from Bethesda's website, the game and content are no longer accessible.
Compilations[]
Fallout Trilogy[]
Fallout Trilogy box art
Fallout Trilogy (also released internationally as Fallout Collection or Saga Fallout) is a compilation of the three PC games in the Fallout series, consisting of Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, published by Interplay and Kalipso.
Fallout Anthology[]
Fallout Anthlogy game collection
Fallout Anthology is a collection of five Fallout games, Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout Tactics, as well as all of their add-ons. It was released on September 29, 2015, in North America and October 2 in Europe.
Published media[]
Comics[]
One Man, and a Crate of Puppets[]
One Man, and a Crate of Puppets is an official Fallout webcomic written by Jerry Holkins (aka Tycho Brahe) and illustrated by Mike Krahulik (aka John Gabriel), (creators of the video game webcomic Penny Arcade), co-created with Fallout 3 lead designer Emil Pagliarulo. In July 2008, the comic was launched on the official Fallout 3 website. It follows the life of the sole inhabitant of Vault 77 and his crate of puppets and was updated every Wednesday.
All Roads[]
All Roads cover
All Roads is a Fallout graphic novel written by Chris Avellone. It tells the story of some of the characters and events in the week that leads up to Fallout: New Vegas. It was created in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics and a hardcover copy is included in the collector's edition of the game.
Strategy Guides[]
Fallout Official Survival Guide[]
The Fallout Official Survival Guide (also known as Official Survival Guide To Fallout) is the official Fallout strategy guide. It was written by William H. Keith, Jr. and Nina Barton and published by BradyGames. The guide provides walkthroughs for individual quests and information on enemies, mutants, and friendly characters. It also includes strategies for tactical warfare.
The guide also contains humorous and helpful tips from an old-time adventurer named Ol' Slim.
Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets[]
Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets is the official Fallout 2 strategy guide published by Sybex. It was written by Matthew J. Norton, one of the two lead designers of Fallout 2. It contains some background information, such as the origin of deathclaws, that was not included in the actual game.
Fallout Tactics Official Strategies & Secrets[]
Fallout Tactics Official Strategies & Secrets is the official Fallout Tactics strategy guide published by Sybex. It was written by Michael Rymaszewski.
The Fallout Tactics Official Strategies & Secrets provides comprehensive walkthroughs for all missions, detailed maps, and in-depth statistics and strategies for all weapons, characters, vehicles, and creatures.
There are several online updates for the guide, which gives exclusive pictures of almost all items in the game, as well as some additions and corrections.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Official Strategy Guide[]
The Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Official Strategy Guide is the official Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel strategy guide published by Prima Games. It was written by Fletcher Black.
The Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Official Strategy Guide provides complete mission walkthroughs for every level, full weapons, armor, and explosives breakdown, tips for defeating bosses, detailed maps with secret locations revealed and multiplayer tips for each area.
Fallout 3 Official Game Guide[]
The Fallout 3 Prima Official Game Guide is a publication by Prima Games. It contains strategies, maps, and walkthroughs that a player may find useful while playing Fallout 3, as well as some additional background information about the setting and characters not found in the game itself. The guide is localized and published in Europe and Australia by Future Press.
Two Fallout 3 add-on guides have also been released - one for Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt, and the second one for Broken Steel and Point Lookout.
In October 2009, a Game of the Year edition of the guide was published, which includes all the add-on guides and complements the Game of the Year Edition of the game itself.
Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide[]
The Fallout: New Vegas Prima Official Game Guide is a publication by Prima Games. It contains strategies, maps, and walk-throughs that a player may find useful while playing Fallout: New Vegas, as well as some additional background information about the setting and characters.
The hardcover collector's edition includes 32 more pages which include concept art and background information from the developers at Obsidian Entertainment. Its main author is David S.J. Hodgson, who also authored the Fallout 3 Official Game Guide.
Fallout 4 Official Game Guide[]
The Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide is a publication by Prima Games. The guide contains strategies, maps, walkthroughs, and reference data that a player may find useful while playing Fallout 4, as well as some additional background information about the setting and characters not found within the game itself. The guide comes in two editions: the Standard Edition, and the Collector's Edition. The Collector's Edition comes in hardcover, and was a limited edition. It includes exclusive bonuses not featured in the Standard Edition and contains a bonus: a free code to access eGUIDE on any web device.
Fallout 76 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide[]
The Fallout 76 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide is a publication by Prima Games. The guide contains strategies, maps, walkthroughs, and reference data that a player may find useful while playing Fallout 76, as well as some additional background information about the setting, locations, and characters not found within the game itself. The edition contains a bonus: a free code to access eGuide on any web device.
Other items[]
The Art of Fallout 3[]
The Art of Fallout 3 is an art book available with the collector's edition of Fallout 3. It features concept art by Craig Mullins and Adam Adamowicz.
The standard version (purchasable from Amazon or included in the collector's edition) measures 6″ x 9". The larger version, measuring 8″ x 12.4", had been released in October 2009, but is not found on the Internet.
The Art of Fallout 4[]
The Art of Fallout 4 is an art book that was released on November 10, 2015.
Pip-Boy Operational Instructions[]
Operational Instructions cover
Pip-Boy Operational Instructions is a manual included with the Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition released on November 15, 2015. The Pip-Boy Operational Instructions functions largely as instructions for operating the real-life Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV, but also includes snippets of lore about both Vault-Tec Corporation, RobCo Industries and Vault life.
Upcoming media[]
Fallout TV series Season 2[]
The Fallout television series produced by Kilter Films and distributed by Amazon MGM Studios was renewed for a second season shortly before the premier of the first season. It will be filmed in California.
Fallout 5[]
While Fallout 5 has not officially been announced, Emil Pagliarulo has discussed the possibility of developing it in an interview at Gamescom 2020.[1]. Todd Howard stated in a November 2021 interview that a one-page document for what Bethesda would like to do with Fallout 5 exists. However, he could not comment on the potential involvement of other studios under Microsoft and ZeniMax.[2]
In a June 2022 interview, Todd Howard confirmed that Fallout 5 would be Bethesda's next project after The Elder Scrolls VI.[3]
Canceled games and media[]
Vault 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure[]
Main article: Vault 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure
The original version of Fallout 1, GURPS was later dropped and it became Fallout 1.
Fallout (PlayStation)[]
An unnamed Fallout game meant for the PlayStation 1. Canceled after about 3–4 months of pre-production and early prototyping.
Fallout Extreme[]
Fallout Exteme logo
A tactical squad-based TPP/FPP game developed by 14° East. Canceled after several months of development.
Fallout Tactics 2[]
Initially approved by Interplay sometime after Fallout Tactics, development started at Micro Forté and was eventually canceled.
Van Buren[]
Van Buren title screen
"Van Buren" was the project codename Black Isle Studios assigned to their version of Fallout 3. Canceled following financial issues.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2[]
A sequel to Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, canceled following layoffs at Interplay.
Fallout Pen and Paper d20[]
Main article: Fallout Pen and Paper d20
A planned pen and paper RPG developed by Glutton Creeper Games, it eventually was later released as a post-apocalyptic d20 RPG called Exodus.
Project V13[]
Project v13 promotional art
An MMORPG developed by Interplay, canceled due to legal obligations.
Fallout movie (Interplay Entertainment)[]
In 1998, Interplay Entertainment founded the film division Interplay Films to make films based on its properties, and announced that a Fallout film was one of their first projects. Interplay confirmed that a film based on the original Fallout game was in production, but the division was later disbanded without any film produced.
Fallout movie (Bethesda Softworks)[]
In 2009, Bethesda Softworks expressed its interest in producing a Fallout film. In February 2012, instead of a Fallout film, a special feature was made, entitled "Making of Fallout 3 DVD", which was accepted as a film on March 27 of the same year. In the DVD commentary of Mutant Chronicles, voice actor Ron Perlman stated that if a Fallout film was made, he would like to reprise his role as the Narrator. In 2016, Todd Howard stated that Bethesda had turned down the offers of making a film based on Fallout, but that he did not rule out the possibility.
Behind the scenes[]
- The franchise's name, starting with the original Fallout video game was intended as a reference to nuclear fallout, which refers to residual ionizing radiation in the wake of a nuclear weapon's detonation. When creating Fallout, Interplay did not originally name it as such; when development started, the placeholder name was Testbed (as in, being the testbed for various engines Tim Cain was creating), and later Vault 13, referencing the starting location.[4]
- The title was changed to Fallout after Cain concluded that the previous title Vault 13 would be impossible to follow up on in a reasonable fashion (i.e. sequels would have to be called Vault 13 2, Vault 14, More Vault 13, Beyond Vault or some variation thereof). He called a 90-minute brainstorming session on June 19, 1996 for the development team to suggest any and all names that came to mind. These included:[4]
Ground-Zero (with a dash)
Survivors
Warriors of the Apocalypse
Rad Storm (poss. from Tim Cain)
Nuclear Winter
Doomsday Warrior
After the Bomb
Hiroshima Revisited
Vault 13 
Remains of the Day
Devastated Earth
Fallout
Nuclear Summer
Nuclear Winner
Dying Earth
Out of the Vault
Ground Zero (with no dash)
The Rust Age (poss. Leonard Boyarsky)
Future Past
Dead Glow
After Effects
After FX
Devolution
Earth A.D
The Surface
The Surfacing
Moribund World (Jason Anderson)
Vault 666
World Gone Mad
Static Age
The Chosen Ones
The New World
The World Outside
Outside the Vault
After the Collapse
Return to the World
Outside- Interplay's marketing department suggested its own list of names, including:[4]
Ravaged
Eradicated
Annihilation
Desiccated
Consumed
Biohazard Mutilation
Scarred Earth
Further into the Wasteland- Tim Cain consulted on the pool of names with Brian Fargo, who suggested picking Fallout out of them all, considering it to be a nice, short name that wouldn't even need shortening (or so he thought). While Cain didn't initially like the name, as he thought that realistically, the effects of a nuclear apocalypse including the fallout would be rendered a non-issue by the time of the game's events over a century after the fact, he kept it in mind and pitched the name to the team the following day. They accepted it instantly and began working on Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game.[4]
References[]
- ↑ Bethesda_DE: Interview with Jeff Gardiner and Emil Pagliarulo at Gamescom 2020 (reference starts at 00:32:29):
Alina Ullrich: "So... there are a lot of people who are excited for a new Fallout single-player game. Do you have any idea how the future of Fallout in general will look like?"
Emil Pagliarulo: "I can't... look, y'know, Bethesda - the games that we normally make are these giant, open-ended single-player, y'know. And would there ever be a Fallout 5? I can't say that there wouldn't be. I can't say that there would be, but I can't imagine that we wouldn't at some point, y'know what I mean? I think about it often. Y'know, 'what will it be? What will Fallout 5 be?' [...] For us, it comes down to... it's not about 'would we want to make this game?' It's 'would we want to play this game?' And, yeah, there's a lot more single-player Fallout that we would want to play." - ↑ Todd Howard on Skyrim's Legacy, Elder Scrolls 6, Starfield, and More! - IGN Unfiltered #61
- ↑ Starfield: Everything New We Learned in IGN's Todd Howard Interview
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Cain on Games, How Fallout Got Its Name