Fallout could be on its way to breaking new grounds for the iconic video game franchise – or heading towards another social media backlash.
Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard says the upcoming Fallout series coming to Amazon Prime will tell a new story, not based on any video games. Howard even goes far as saying he rejected pitches for the series that he claims were remaking the third or fourth games in the franchise.
During an appearance on Lex Fridman’s podcast, Howard stresses he was going for an “adaptation” of the property.
“When people wanted to make a movie, they wanted to tell the story of Fallout 3 or tell the story of Fallout 4, and it was meh,” says Howard. “For this, it was, ‘Hey, let’s do something that exists within the world of Fallout.’ It’s not retelling a game story. It’s basically an area of the map. Let’s tell a story here that fits in the world that we have built, doesn’t break any of the rules, can reference things in the games, but isn’t a retelling of the games.”
Howard says the goal is to mean anyone can stumble upon the series and enjoy it.“[It] exists in the same world but is its own unique thing, so it adds to it. While also, people who haven’t played the games, who can’t experience how crazy cool Fallout is, can watch the series.”
For those who don’t remember, Paramount+ took a similar route to adapt the Halo game series. The Halo show was heavily criticized upon its release, with most fans claiming they wanted something closer to the iconic video games they loved. Fallout could be taking a risky gamble by following this model.
SEE ALSO: Why Video Game Adaptations Don’t Care About Gamers
Let’s see if Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy can handle the daunting task of creating the show while pleasing newcomers and diehard fans. Nolan will reportedly direct several episodes. Amazon’s Fallout will star Walton Goggins, Kyle MacLachlan, and Ella Purnell.
