Fallout finds itself in an unusual position as the beloved series remains shrouded in mystery on the gaming front, even as it enjoys renewed success on the small screen thanks to Amazon Prime's TV adaptation. The second season continues to earn solid reviews, but when it comes to video games, the franchise appears stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Former Fallout: New Vegas lead Chris Avellone has criticised Bethesda for failing to give the franchise enough attention. In a post on X, he said: 'I don’t think Bethesda hates Fallout — they just don’t fully understand its roots and arguably don’t care. They own the franchise and want to do their own spin on Fallout and make that the norm.'
Avellone, who also worked on Fallout 2, described Bethesda's entries — Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 — as 'colourful, shallow theme parks', though he made an exception for DLC expansions such as Far Harbor, Point Lookout and The Pitt. He acknowledged Bethesda's strengths in open-world exploration but criticised its ability to tell linear stories and use the Speech skill.
Fallout 76 suffered a bruising launch in November 2018, with critics highlighting game-breaking bugs, an ageing graphics engine and a lack of clear direction. Since then, Bethesda has poured significant effort into rebuilding the experience with human NPCs, new questlines and extensive bug fixes, transforming it into something closer to what fans had hoped for.
For now, fans face a long wait for the next mainline entry. Fallout 5 remains years away, with Bethesda currently focused on development of The Elder Scrolls 6.
