Todd Howard of Bethesda Game Studios has confirmed the developer has an early idea for Fallout 5.
During an interview with IGN primarily regarding the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Howard briefly discussed the prospect of developing a fifth mainline entry in the Fallout series. When asked if the next Fallout game might be developed in partnership with a studio other than Bethesda -- such as with Obsidian Entertainment developing Fallout: New Vegas in 2010 -- Howard replied, "I don't see... Look, Fallout's really part of our DNA here. We've worked with other people from time to time -- I can't say say what's gonna happen. You know, we have a one-pager on Fallout 5, what we want to do."
In the gaming industry, a one-pager is a term for a high-level document that outlines the broad concept for a game prior to its development. A one-pager can often include basic details about the project's plot, intended mechanics, target audience and development ideas that make the game unique. Essentially, Howard confirmed Bethesda has written up a basic premise for another game in the Fallout franchise, which hasn't seen a mainline entry since Fallout 4 in 2015.
Howard, who served as game director for both Fallout 4 and its predecessor, Fallout 3, declined to say anything more about the next title in the post-apocalyptic role-playing game series. Howard declined to confirm any further details about Fallout 5, such as its possible developers or its expected timetable. Instead, he explained that Bethesda's only current commitments are developing Starfield for 2022 and The Elder Scrolls VI afterward. And considering The Elder Scrolls VI may not arrive until 2024, Fallout 5 may not see the light of day until even after that.
"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," Howard explained.
The Fallout franchise explores the United States in the aftermath a nuclear war that ravaged the planet. The franchise's original game, developed and published by Interplay Productions, released in 1997. A sequel, Fallout 2, was developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1997.
Bethesda went on to develop and publish both 2008's Fallout 3 and 2015's Fallout 4. In the interim, the company also published the Obsidian-developed Fallout: New Vegas, which released in 2010. The most recent game in the Fallout saga to be released was 2018's Fallout 76, an online multiplayer spinoff title developed and published by Bethesda. While Fallout 76 has found some success, cultivating a sizeable player base since its launch, the online title serves as a prequel to all previous entries in the series, meaning that the loose story threads of Fallout 4 have been left dangling since 2015.
Bethesda's next incoming project, Starfield, will be the studio's first new IP in over 25 years. Despite sharing the sci-fi genre with Fallout, Starfield plans to carve its own niche, and has been described by Howard as "NASA meets Indiana Jones meets the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Starfield is scheduled for release Nov. 11, 2022 exclusively for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Source: IGN