Fallout was heavily inspired by the 1988 post-apocalyptic game Wasteland, which was developed by Interplay and published by Electronic Arts. When it became clear EA wasn’t interested in licensing out Wasteland, Interplay shifted their attention to a new IP. Cain’s game was originally titled Vault-13, referring to the fallout shelter where the player leaves at the beginning of the game to enter the wasteland of a bombed-out Southern California where the story is set. However, Interplay President Brian Fargo suggested the game’s final title of Fallout.
Looking back at Fallout now, nearly 30 years after its launch, it’s remarkable how much of that foundation remains intact, even with the change in developers and publishers and the general passage of time. Along with the overall premise of a vision of the United States centuries after enduring a devastating nuclear war, the darkly humorous tone and retro-futuristic design aesthetic remain intact. And though the gameplay mechanics have been revamped significantly, the idea of player abilities boosted by Perks and Action Points fueling special attacks, in addition to nonlinear progression and RPG elements, have been retained.
Simply put, Fallout, and its 1998 sequel Fallout 2, laid out a fantastic foundation and detailed sense of world-building that never needed much tampering with, even as gaming sensibilities have evolved. A lot of that foundational work comes from Cain, who resisted Interplay’s desire to make the game a real-time multiplayer after the success of 1997’s Diablo, and advocated for seeing the project through to completion while Interplay strongly contemplated canceling the project twice, once to prioritize development on its newly acquired properties, including Dungeons & Dragons, and again over the game’s nihilistic premise. That Fallout was created, let alone continues to survive and thrive, is something of a game industry miracle.
Fallout Changes Hands
By the late ‘90s into the early 2000s, Interplay’s financial outlook began to worsen considerably in the face of a changing gaming industry, leading them to close Fallout developer Black Isle Studios in 2003. To stave off insolvency, Interplay licensed out a number of its properties to outside publishers, with Fallout licensed to Bethesda SoftWorks in 2004. This licensing agreement allowed Bethesda to develop and publish three Fallout games while Interplay would retain full ownership of the franchise itself. Additionally, the licensing agreement allowed Interplay to develop and publish the planned Fallout Online, finally moving towards its long-standing hope to turn the property into an online multiplayer experience.
However, Interplay’s fortunes continued to worsen even after this licensing deal, causing the company to sell ownership of the Fallout property entirely to Bethesda in 2007 for $5.75 million. As part of this amended agreement, Interplay was still allowed to develop and publish Fallout Online, provided it could secure $30 million in funding within two years of the agreement, with the game launched within four years after officially beginning development. Arguing that Interplay hadn’t gained the necessary funding by 2009, Bethesda sued Interplay for breach of contract of the 2007 agreement, with the resulting settlement officially canceling Fallout Online and ceding the Fallout property’s ownership, including any plans for future online games, to Bethesda.
Fallout 3 Changes the Game
Production on Fallout 3 began in 2004 before ramping up in earnest after the completion of 2006’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, with Fallout 3 using the same gameplay and graphics engine as Oblivion and retaining much of the fantasy game’s development team. Whereas previous games in the series took place on the American West Coast, Fallout 3 is set in Washington, D.C.: the planned setting for Interplay’s Fallout: Van Buren, which was canceled when Black Isle Studios was shuttered. However, Fallout 3 bears no resemblance to the shelved Van Buren, and its differences from past Fallout games are clear to the player right from the start.
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