After the success of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, there have been many questions about what Bethesda would do next. According to a new report, the company is reportedly working on multiple projects in the Fallout franchise. According to VGC’s Jordan Middler on a recent episode of the Friends Per Second podcast, one of the projects that Bethesda is working on is the “one you’re all wanting”.
“There are multiple Fallout projects in development, including, as far as I’m aware, that one you’re all wanting,” said Middler. “But it’s not far enough along to say anything that is like, ‘You’re going to be playing this game anytime soon’.’”
Middler also spoke about how he is surprised that Microsoft hasn’t officially announced anything related to a mainline Fallout sequel since it acquired Bethesda back in 2021. He goes on to say how “Fallout 5 should have been day one, ‘Okay, we own these, now let’s get a game that says Fallout 5 on it out on the shelves. And they didn’t bother.”
While the “multiple Fallout projects” could mean anything from expansions for Fallout 76 to new smartphone games or updates to Fallout Shelter, when Middler said that work is going on on the “one you’re all wanting,” as well as his comments about a Fallout 5, he was likely referring to the long-rumoured Fallout 3 remaster.
The remaster still being not far enough along for a proper announcement shouldn’t come as a big surprise, however, considering just how old the original release is. Back in April, former Bethesda developer Bruce Nesmith spoke about how a remaster or remake of Fallout 3 would need a revamp of the game’s gunplay.
“What did you see in Fallout 4? That will tell you what they felt was necessary to change from Fallout 3,” Nesmith said. “I know in Fallout 4 there was a lot of work done on the gun combat because Fallout 3 is the first time they ever tried to do a shooter-style game. And, well, I think the work that was done was amazing.”
He went on to talk about how the combat in Fallout 3 was “not good”, and heavy revisions would be needed for the gameplay systems to feel good in the modern day. He even brought up comparisons with other shooters of the time, including Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Dead Space and Gears of War 2, to talk about how Fallout 3’s gun combat didn’t even hold up to its contemporaries.
“[Fallout 3 combat] didn’t hold up to shooters at the time,” Nesmith explained. “Also, it’s an RPG shooter, it’s not a run-and-gun shooter. But a lot of work was done on that for Fallout 4. So I anticipate seeing a lot of that work go into it, assuming they’re doing the same thing.”
Bethesda has currently made no new announcements regarding the Fallout franchise. However, the company did confirm back in June that Fallout 76 had reached 23 million players.
