Todd Howard's Cryptic Wizardry: Fallout 5 is Cooking, But You'll Need a Pip-Boy to Read the Clock
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Todd Howard's confirmed that a "full team" has been working on *Fallout* for a while, hinting at projects beyond *Fallout 76* and affirming that *Fallout 5* is next up *after* *The Elder Scrolls 6*, all while the successful TV series adds new layers to the wasteland's future.
Right, so you know that feeling when you've been staring at a 'loading...' screen for what feels like an eternity, only for the developer to pop up and say, 'Oh, didn't you know? We've had a full team on that particular 'loading...' screen for ages!' Yeah, well, Todd Howard just pulled a similar move for the *Fallout* universe, and honestly, mate, it’s both exactly what we expected and somehow still surprising.
Our digital wizard-in-chief, Todd Howard himself, recently fanned the flames of *Fallout 5* speculation by dropping a rather casual bombshell: *Fallout* is "the one we're still doing the most work in above anything." Now, if you're like me, you probably did a double-take, spat out your Nuka-Cola, and thought, 'Hang on, *Fallout 4* was 2015. What 'full team' has been where, doing what, exactly?'
And here's where the plot thickens faster than a Radscorpion stew. A significant chunk of that ongoing *Fallout* effort, as Howard clarified, has been dedicated to *Fallout 76*. Now, I reckon we can all agree that *76*'s launch back in 2018 was... let's just say it was less of a smooth launch and more of a spontaneous explosion in a virtual vault. It was wobbly, to put it mildly, and Bethesda's team has been on a long, arduous quest to bring it back from the brink, largely succeeding in making it a respectable, if still niche, online experience.
But here’s the kicker, the part that had me squinting at my screen like I was trying to decipher an ancient spell scroll: "We are doing other things with *Fallout* that we haven't announced, and you know, there'll come a time for that." See? Classic Howard. Like a mischievous dungeon master hinting at a treasure chest in a room you can't access yet. It’s enough to get the gears turning in your head. Are we talking spin-offs? VR experiences? A new *Fallout Shelter* mobile game that actually lets us raid other people's vaults? The possibilities, much like a poorly-calibrated teleportation spell, are everywhere.
Of course, the vast majority of Bethesda Game Studios is currently deep in the trenches on *The Elder Scrolls 6*. That mythical beast, first announced way back when *Fallout 76* was a fresh, unblemished (and then immediately blemished) sprout, has been the studio's primary focus after *Starfield* finally soared. Some folks are optimistically casting their augury spells for a *TES6* release as early as 2027. Me? I'm gently skeptical. That feels less like reading digital tea leaves and more like staring directly into a supernova. Bethesda's development cycles are legendary, and I wouldn't bet my bottle caps on anything less than a long, patient wait.
This brings us back to the promise that *Fallout 5* will be the game *after* *The Elder Scrolls 6*. So, yeah, we're talking about a multi-year, possibly multi-decade, journey here. It’s like waiting for your favourite wizard to finish brewing a particularly potent potion – you know it’ll be epic, but you also know it requires a lot of bubbling and simmering.
It’s also fair dinkum to acknowledge how much Bethesda has evolved. Studio director Angela Browder pointed out how every game is a learning experience, particularly *Fallout 76* and *Starfield*. *76* taught them the harsh realities of a live-service launch and the importance of player feedback. "We learned about investing and listening to our players and strengthening who we are and what we are, our own ability to resiliency and adversity," she noted. It's the kind of corporate speak that usually makes my eyes glaze over, but coming after the very public struggles of *76*, it rings with a certain authenticity. They genuinely had to adapt, and that's something to commend.
Then there’s *Starfield*. "We made the biggest thing we've ever done in our entire lives: we made space," Browder said. "I'm scared of space, I think space is really scary, but we made space!" A perfectly relatable sentiment, if you ask me. Apparently, all that cosmic-scale development, building an entire new IP, has tightened their creative muscles. "We are better developers for having made a multiplayer game, we are better developers for having developed our own IP now, because it's new muscles," she added. It’s true; stepping out of your comfort zone, even if you stumble a bit, usually makes you stronger in the long run. So, while we might have had our gripes with *Starfield*'s launch, the hope is that this newfound cosmic wisdom is now being funnelled directly into *TES6* and, eventually, *Fallout 5*.
And let's not forget the recent, glorious success of the *Fallout* TV series. Bloody hell, that show was good! It perfectly captured the absurd, darkly humorous, and utterly brutal spirit of the games. Todd Howard has already confirmed that *Fallout 5* will acknowledge the TV series timeline, either by being set after its events or intertwined with them. This is genuinely exciting because it shows a willingness to integrate new, well-received lore into the core games, rather than just keeping them as separate entities. It opens up a whole new realm of storytelling possibilities for the wasteland.
So, where does that leave us, the eager wasteland wanderers waiting for our next single-player fix? *Fallout 5* is confirmed, it's being thought about, and a "full team" has been tinkering with *Fallout* stuff for ages. But it's firmly behind *The Elder Scrolls 6*. It’s a classic Bethesda tease – a glimpse of the promised land, but the map to get there is still largely obscured by fog of war. The question isn't *if* *Fallout 5* will arrive, but *when* it'll finally burst forth from the vault. My bet? Not for a very, *very* long time. Still, the thought of it is enough to keep us warm through the long, nuclear winter, eh?
Tags: Fallout, Bethesda, Todd Howard, RPG, Gaming Industry
Original article: Eurogamer