The developers behind Fallout 76 are signaling deeper ties with Prime Video’s live-action Fallout series – but they’re also keenly aware of the nearly two-century-long gap separating the two. In a recent interview, Fallout 76 creative director Jon Rush confirmed that Bethesda is planning tie-in content to coincide with the second season of the adaptation.
“The show is very effective storytelling, great storytelling, very ‘Fallout,’ being made by folks that are big fans of the game and the series, and so are we,” Rush told Variety. He continued, “The two go together very well. So folks see the show and want more of that same kind of story, and they’re going to come into 76, they’re going to come into Fallout 4, or come into Fallout 3.”
According to Rush, the teams are preparing content “lining up with the seasonal releases of the show,” adding, “we do have plans for things here and there. I’m not going to go into detail on any of those now, but the two teams do talk to one another.”
194 Years Divide ‘Fallout’ on Prime Video and ‘Fallout 76’
Despite the enthusiasm, Rush acknowledged that the narrative timeline creates challenges for direct crossover. “I think a distinct trait of the Fallout 76 game is that we’re the furthest back in time,” he explained. “And it’s kind of funny, because the show’s the furthest into the future. So there’s a lot of room where we don’t necessarily need to overlap. There are some things that we could overlap the stories, that could exist, but we largely try to keep those pretty simple.”
The timeline gap is stark: Fallout 76 unfolds in the year 2102, while the Prime Video series is set in 2296, 194 years apart. The time difference is too vast for characters like Lucy (Ella Purnell) or Maximus (Aaron Moten) to make an appearance in the game, but not every character is constrained by this divide. For instance, Walton Goggins’ Ghoul making an appearance in Fallout 76 is entirely possible, as he’s been around since the bombs dropped in 2077. Fallout 76 introduced a ghoul-focused update earlier this year that allows players to play as a ghoul for the first time in franchise history. This alone was a monumental deal, as Fallout fans have wanted to play as one of the mutated, radiation-surviving humans for years. Should the 76 team ever secure a tie-in with Goggins’ fan-favorite character, the game could see even higher player counts.
The ‘Fallout’ Series Continues To Boost Player Counts for the Games
The live-action series has reinvigorated the franchise, with Fallout 76 player counts surging to record levels after the series debuted, as well as prior releases in the series, so it makes sense that Bethesda aims to maintain that momentum through fresh in-game content. For example, when the Fallout series premiered last April, there was a nearly 20,000-player uptick for Fallout 76 on Steam, a number that continued to climb by more than 4,000-players in May. While the overall number has decreased and stabilized in recent months, the current average player count is still higher than it was before the live-action series premiered. While direct crossovers may be limited by nearly two centuries of in-universe history, fans can expect Bethesda to keep weaving thematic connections between the two worlds as Season 2 unfolds.
Fallout Season 1 is available on Prime Video.
Fallout
- Release Date
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April 10, 2024
- Showrunner
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Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
- Writers
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Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
- Franchise(s)
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Fallout
Source: Variety