Fallout 5 rumor suggests game could launch earlier than everyone thinks

Windows Central reporter Jez Corden claims that Microsoft intends to release a Fallout 5 game much faster than fans anticipated.

In a 2022 interview with IGN, Bethesda Game Studios producer Todd Howard revealed that Elder Scrolls 6 was already in pre-production. Fallout 5 will serve as the team’s next project after the Elder Scrolls adventure, Howard shared.

FTC v. Microsoft case documents offered a bit more insight, thanks to a Microsoft chart that specifically noted the new Elder Scrolls isn’t expected until 2026 or later. The fifth mainline Fallout entry may not see the light of day until even later as a result.

Amazon’s Fallout TV show has helped generate new interest in the post-nuclear RPG series, however. As such, it’s claimed that Microsoft intends to release another Fallout game earlier than anticipated.

The claim comes courtesy of comments from Windows Central’s Jez Corden, who stated the following on episode 313 of the Xbox Two podcast: “They’re currently formulating plans on how to get the next Fallout here for us sooner rather than later, which I know is vague as hell, but like, we constantly talk about, ‘Will we even see Fallout this decade? No, we won’t.’

“And the answer is, I think we will. I think we will see Fallout. It’s a bit different here because they’ve already got the engine, the Starfield engine; they just got to kind of make assets for it. I’m suggesting someone else is going to build it. I think probably Obsidian. I just know that they know they can’t let this take that long. That’s the gist of the current plan. We’re not going to have to wait that long for it.”

Corden’s uncorroborated claims suggest something like Fallout 5 will launch before the decade is out… But the Fallout-related rumblings don’t end there.

Bethesda’s Todd Howard appeared on the April 29 episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, where he hinted that two Fallout projects may be in the works.

In speaking loosely about future plans, Howard teased, “We look at what we are doing with the [Fallout] franchise and then we say, ‘Do we still feel good about — I can’t reveal it now — but here is our runway for Fallout as a franchise.'”

He then spoke about the many Fallout projects, a couple of them seemingly unannounced, and how he wished the team’s efforts could instantly bear fruit. “When is Season 2 happening? What are we doing on mobile? What are we doing in [Fallout 76]? What are we doing with this thing? What are we doing with this other thing? And when are these landing? And again, if I could snap my fingers and have them all be out and ready, I would. But the main thing is how do we deliver these at a high-quality level. That is always most important.”

Howard’s “this thing… and this other thing” comment appears to vaguely hint at two unrevealed Fallout-branded projects of some kind.

The property has dabbled in multiple mediums and genres in the past, so if this does constitute a tease, there’s no guarantee fans should hold their breaths for Bethesda-style RPGs.