There was never much doubt that Fallout 3 would be getting a sequel. In 2004, Bethesda's Pete Hines told IGN that the company had licensed the rights to Fallout 4 and Fallout 5; and in August of this year, he reaffirmed that Bethesda had purchased the rights with the intent to produce a new franchise.
"The whole reason we went out and acquired the license and that we now own Fallout is that we clearly intended to make more than one," he told TVG. "When that will be or how long that will be god only knows, but we acquired it specifically because we wanted to own it and develop it and work on it like we do with The Elder Scrolls."
Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard may not be God, but he does have a good idea of the schedule for Fallout sequels. Today, he voiced the opinion that the games should optimally be spaced three years apart.
Speaking to Reuters at the tail-end of an article on the prevalence of video game sequels, Howard offered this opinion:
"I think it's good for people to miss things," said Todd Howard, executive producer of the game. "Ten years between 'Fallout' is a bit long, but I think there's this nostalgia factor."
Fans of the post-Apocalyptic game, set in Washington, D.C., won't have to wait another decade for "Fallout 4." Howard said he believes three years is a good time frame between games.
Though we could see some developers using such a statement to lower consumer expectation in the short-term, then release early, we're tempted to take Howard at his word -- since Morrowind, Bethesda's open-world epics have taken 3+ years to reach fruition.
Leave a Reply