Fallout series healthy thanks to "sneaky popular" Fallout 76, says Todd Howard
And why it'll always be set in America.
Considering the huge success of the Fallout TV show, it may be surprising that Bethesda doesn't have a new game to coincide with its release.
Yet Bethesda boss Todd Howard believes the franchise is healthy and turns to the "sneaky popular" MMORPG Fallout 76 as a key indicator.
Howard was interviewed by Kinda Funny Games and was asked whether Bethesda wanted a new game in the series alongside the TV show, beyond the Fallout 4 new-gen patch.
"Not necessarily," replied Howard, continuing: "How healthy is the franchise? How relevant is Fallout to the world? I think we're doing really well there. We have a whole team on Fallout 76, so we've always been doing a lot of Fallout work really for the last...that game came out 5-6 years ago. And so I think what's great about this moment is seeing all that work in Fallout 76 - I understand a lot of people dismissed it from how it launched, understandably - but it's kinda been sneaky popular for the last three or four years."
That popularity has surged since the release of the show, recently with a million players in a single day.
"So seeing all that response, particularly to 76 that hadn't had that level of success before, I'm super proud of the team here that's been working on it," said Howard.
Howard also discussed how each game in the series is distinct and works as its own entry point to the series.
"Our view has always been, we want every entry - the same as Elder Scrolls, actually - to feel like it has its own tone, that it is its own experience," he said, so if people want single player or multiplayer or mobile games they're all available. "All of those things should feel like a unique entry. We're seeing people now say 'the TV show is my favourite entry into Fallout'. I think that's great. I don't view that as a negative."
Howard also admitted the games take a long time to make. "I think one of the things we're focused on here is obviously making sure they're of the highest quality, but also finding ways to increase our output, because we don't want to wait that long either," he said. "It's never our plan, but we want to make sure we get it right."
Later in the interview, Howard discussed the importance of the Americana setting of the series and how that's unlikely to change.
"Part of the Fallout schtick is on the Americana naïveté," he said. "For us right now it's ok to acknowledge some of those other areas but our plans are to predominantly keep it in the US."
Thankfully, there's the fan-made Fallout: London expansion to fill that gap.
Elsewhere in the interview, Howard stated Starfield's expansion is gearing up for an autumn release, plus a new free update on the way.
To capitalise on the TV show, Bethesda has released a new-gen upgrade to Fallout 4, but it released to a mixed response as it breaks mod compatibility among other issues.