Todd Howard says there’s real fan “anxiety” around the silence on Fallout 5, while the saga’s original creator admits he would have taken the IP down a very different road. Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, and Brian Fargo also weigh in on where the series has landed under Bethesda.

At this point, it’s hard to pretend Fallout is still the niche isometric RPG that first emerged at Interplay back in 1997. Today, it’s a giant franchise that reinvented itself when Bethesda moved it into a first-person open-world mold and later broadened it again through projects like Fallout 76 and a Prime Video series expansion. That jump in scale has split parts of the audience, especially longtime fans, but the brand’s momentum is impossible to ignore.

With the franchise booming under a different studio, plenty of players are curious about what the original Fallout creators make of its evolution. Game Informer spoke with three core members of the classic team about how the series changed hands and changed shape: Tim Cain (lead programmer), Leonard Boyarsky (art director), and Brian Fargo (executive producer) each offered a take that mixes nostalgia with pointed critiques of Bethesda.

Cain doesn’t dance around it, and he sums up the path Fallout has taken like this: “We would have gone in a different direction, but obviously, the sales say that people love what they did.” In other words, it may not be the Fallout he would have built, but he also isn’t entirely negative about how Bethesda has managed the IP. Boyarsky, meanwhile, says he enjoyed both Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, even if he still has a small nitpick about the earlier post-apocalyptic RPG.

“It had a bit of a greenish tint on top, and I feel like it wasn’t as sharp as I would have liked, but I say that with the benefit of hindsight.” He adds that Fallout 3 felt “closer to what we would have done in terms of RPGs,” while Fallout 4 would have trimmed some of those classic RPG systems. It echoes Cain’s earlier comments about being worried over Fallout 5 because certain mechanics have been simplified. Even so, Boyarsky still acknowledges what these standout RPGs get right.

Fargo, on the other hand, links the games and the TV adaptation with the same idea: “I’d say it’s almost as if [Bethesda] treated the games the way they treated the Amazon series.” The inXile founder argues that’s exactly where Bethesda deserves credit, because the music, the look, and the overall identity were used to put Fallout front and center before taking creative liberties – whether in Fallout 76, Fallout 4, or the Prime Video series. “It has to be said: it worked.” It may not be what they would have chosen, but the current success also points to decisions that clearly landed.

Todd Howard Says There’s “Anxiety” Around the Fallout 5 Silence

From the Bethesda side, Todd Howard addressed the quiet around Fallout 5, admitting he can sense fan “anxiety” even as the franchise is enjoying a visibility boost (via Gamesradar). In that same conversation, the Bethesda boss insisted work on Fallout hasn’t stopped – he even called it their most active franchise – while clarifying that most of the internal team is currently focused on The Elder Scrolls 6.

He pointed to Fallout 76 as proof that they’ve kept a dedicated group on the franchise for a long time and plan to continue doing so. Even then, he hinted there are other Fallout-related projects they still haven’t announced. What has been said about Fallout 5 is that the RPG will tie into the universe of the Prime Video Fallout series, meaning the show’s events and story will factor into the game’s setting when it eventually releases.

Beyond Fallout 5, the community also keeps hearing rumors about remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. After the success of Oblivion Remastered, it wouldn’t be shocking to see both RPGs return in upgraded form across the board. Most likely, though, both projects would still be years away.

And the franchise keeps expanding elsewhere too, with filming for Season 3 set to begin on May 1, 2026, and a potential release window around mid-2027.

Forrás: 3djuegos