Video game adaptations in the TV or film space are tricky to accomplish. After all, you’re trying to not only replicate the stories of the titles but also attempt to “redesign” the gameplay so that viewers will “understand” the style of play that’s being translated. That’s why things can be so hit-or-miss with them. However, there is a plus side to making a successful gaming adaptation, as the Fallout TV Series can attest to. The show only recently arrived on Amazon Prime Video, yet it’s already been confirmed for a second season. Then, Bethesda revealed the “ripple effect” that came from that.
Specifically, the show was so good that across the numerous Fallout titles that you can play right now, over 5 million people played them in a single day:
That’s impressive for several reasons. First, this makes the player count for the franchise the highest it’s been in many years. Even some of their newer releases, at the time, didn’t get this much attention from players in a single day. Then, you have to remember that some of the titles weren’t as popular when they launched, and yet people are trying them now. Fallout 76 is the biggest example of this. When the MMO version of the Wasteland arrived, players and critics blasted it for its “empty world,” lack of things to do, and more. Bethesda has built it up over time, but this peak of 1 million players in a single day is easily one of the highest it’s ever been.
As for the other titles like Fallout 4 and New Vegas, this could be seen as bringing “new life” to the titles long after their arrival on PC and console.
The catch with this, however, is that all we’re hearing is that the games had a huge surge in player count across a singular day. That doesn’t tell us how many people simply “went back to playing the games” or decided to “try them out for the first time.” It is fair to predict that sales surged across the franchise due to the TV series release, but it’s hard to gauge how much they sold at present.
That being said, this is a huge win for Bethesda. This TV series has been in the works for some time, and now they know it’s worth it. They can use it to showcase the glory of the games they made or helped make.
But as for Fallout 5, that’s not likely to arrive anytime soon. Sorry.
