Jordan Middler of Video Games Chronicle has made a big claim about the Fallout franchise.
Middler was a guest in the latest episode of The Friends Per Second podcast, which also happens to be hosted by our very own Jake Baldino. While talking about where Microsoft’s future could go in the fallout of these layoffs, he suddenly said this:
Fallout is the big one. I cannot believe that they didn’t immediately start work on a Fallout 5 because Todd’s not going to make it. Todd is not going to make it. He’s not going to make the game.
He may well make it to that point of life hopefully at the time of recording. But when he’s done with the next Elder Scrolls, I can fully see him being like, “Okay, I’m I’m done. I’m an older guy now.”
There are multiple Fallout projects in development, including, as far as I’m aware, that one you’re all wanting. But it’s not far enough along to say anything that is like, “You’re going to be playing this game anytime soon.
Bethesda Game Studios has sporadically talked about Fallout 5 and future Fallout games, but only in hypothetical terms without confirming that they have started work on them. Todd Howard has gone on record on a few key details, which were frankly also easy to predict, all the way back in 2022.
At least Bethesda seems to have figured out where the story will go in that game, because they claim to have told the producers of the Amazon show what would happen in that game.
There was also a rumor last year that Bethesda is working with an external studio on a Fallout game. This one is not likely to be Fallout 5, and is probably a spinoff.
Given that Microsoft has yet to officially comment or even confirm these layoffs that have been ongoing since last week, it’s hard to assess what the prospects of these games could be, or for that matter, any of the games that Microsoft makes. Short of reliable live service titles like Call of Duty and Overwatch 2, it’s not clear if any studio or project is safe.
One of the rumored cancelled projects is Blackbird, a 3rd person action RPG which was being made by Bethesda Game Studios’ sister studio Zenimax Online Studios. Their parent company, Zenimax Media was definitely not protected from these layoffs and cancellations, and that raises questions if they would even want to launch this game at all, at least at this time.
