Fallout creator finally reveals how the world ended

The creator of the lauded Fallout series has finally revealed the real reason that the world was bombed into a nuclear wasteland.

The reason for the nuclear fallout that provides the title of the games and their setting has long been speculated on. Though the first game offered little explanation, it became clear in Fallout 2 that the conflict was primarily between the USA and China.

In that game, Chinese characters explained that they were the descendants of members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army who’d arrived on a submarine just as the bombs dropped. Though they play a part in the second game’s story, it’s not until Fallout 3 that the story of the original conflict comes to the fore.

Signs of the activity of invading soldiers litter the Capital Wasteland, with the skeletons of commandos and their weapons found in multiple locations. In Fallout 4, this goes a step further, with players able to meet Captain. Zao, a Ghoul captain, is trapped on a submarine off the coast of the Commonwealth.

Now, the creator of the Fallout series, Tim Cain, has revealed exactly what led up to the dropping of the first bomb and the destruction of the planet.

China dropped the first bomb to stop America’s experiments

In an interview with Fallout fan TKs-Mantis, Cain revealed that China was the first to drop the bomb, settling a debate that has raged for more than two decades among the community.

To quote him directly, Cain explained: “The reason we got nuked is: bio-weapons were illegal, and somehow China found out we were doing FEV [Forced Evolutionary Virus], and they were like, ‘you have to stop it.’ And we went, ‘OK.’ And all we did was move it.” 

For those who don’t know, the Forced Evolutionary Virus is an artificially created virus that is used to rush phenotype and genotype changes in living hosts. The Master uses it to create Super Mutants, which is the crux of the Enclave’s plan for destroying many of the remaining members of humanity.

Though Cain later rowed back on his comments slightly in a mild panic, fans are happy that they finally have an explanation for the setting of the Fallout series.