The much-anticipated news for the legendary Fallout series has finally arrived. New information from reliable industry sources reveals that Fallout 5 has been fully approved for development, a decision that came at the expense of Project Blackbird, another mysterious project within Bethesda. These claims have both excited and saddened fans, especially after the record-breaking Fallout series, which aired on Amazon Prime, brought the series a massive new audience.
We’ll See Fallout 5 Thanks to the Series
The news was sparked by statements made by Jez Corden of Windows Central on the Xbox Two Podcast. Corden stated that the immense popularity of the Fallout series has motivated parent company ZeniMax and Microsoft, making them see a new mainline Fallout game as a definite asset. He claimed that this strategic assessment has led to the final approval for Fallout 5 development.
The series, which began in 1997 and evolved into a modern classic at Bethesda’s hands, hasn’t received a new single-player mainframe game since Fallout 4 in 2015. The series’ success seems to have provided the perfect excuse to break this long silence.
However, this exciting news has a dark side. According to Corden, the resources and priority allocated to Fallout 5 have led to the demise of Project Blackbird, which was reportedly canceled following Microsoft’s layoffs. Reports suggest that Project Blackbird was an MMO with high development costs and would have been difficult to compete with established competitors in the existing market. It’s believed that executives preferred to invest in the Fallout franchise, a guaranteed hit, rather than a risky new project.
So, who will develop Fallout 5? This is where the uncertainty begins. Corden points out that Bethesda’s core teams are currently busy with upcoming Starfield expansions and the studio’s next major project, The Elder Scrolls 6. This could mean that Fallout 5 could be developed by a different studio or that it’s been pushed back much further in the main team’s schedule.
Amid this uncertainty, strong rumors that the studio is working on a Fallout 3 remaster remain prevalent.
