Fallout 4’s Boston Setting Was Determined Before Skyrim Entered Development

Fallout 4 was always destined to be set in Boston long before Skyrim was even released, Bethesda has revealed. 

Speaking at the recent QuakeCon 2015 convention, Bethesda's VP of marketing Pete Hines said that ideas for Fallout 4 started even before they started work on Skyrim. The game's setting of Boston, Massachusetts had already been settled upon.

In fact, the company had come up with the decision to set the game in Boston right after Fallout 3 shipped. 

“Pre-Skyrim… The ideas for Fallout 4 started right after Fallout 3 and have gotten worked on and been percolated since 2008… We’re talking about its infancy, we’re talking about jotting some stuff down, we’re talking about, ‘I want to do it in Massachusetts, and have it be about this, this, and this,'” Hines said to Gamespot.

Actual production work on the game only began in earnest after Skyrim was released and its expansions were released. 

“The point at which it really kicked into development whenever it was when we put up the post that said, ‘Hey, we’re done with Skyrim and moving onto the next project.'," said Hines. 

“Once we were done with all of that, it was like, ‘Alright, now it’s Fallout 4 full-throttle.”

Fallout 4 is set for release on November 10 for the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. 

Be sure to check out the inspiration for Dogmeat, the game's resident companion.