Fallout is a series of post-apocalyptic role-playing video games from the United States. Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky created the games while working at Interplay Entertainment. The games are set in the first half of the 3rd millennium. They tell the story of people who are descendants of survivors from a nuclear war between the United States and China. This war happened after many conflicts over resources that started in the middle of the 21st century. The games have a unique style called atompunk, which mixes old and futuristic designs. This style is inspired by 1950s American culture, which had both hope for new technology and fear of nuclear war. Fallout is considered a spiritual successor to Wasteland, a game made in 1988 by Interplay Productions.
The first game in the series, Fallout, was made by Black Isle Studios and released in 1997. The next game, Fallout 2, came out the following year. For the tactical role-playing game Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, development was given to Micro Forté and 14 Degrees East. In 2004, Interplay shut down Black Isle Studios. They continued making Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, an action game with role-playing elements for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, without Black Isle Studios. Fallout
Origins
The ideas for the Fallout series started with a game called Wasteland, created by Interplay Productions and released in 1988. At that time, Interplay was not a company that sells games, so they used Electronic Arts to distribute Wasteland. Brian Fargo, the founder of Interplay, wanted to create a game set in a world after a major disaster. This inspired the development of Wasteland. Later, Interplay decided to become a publisher while still making games. Fargo wanted to continue using the Wasteland intellectual property, but he could not get the rights back from Electronic Arts.
To continue working in a post-apocalyptic setting, Fargo and his team created a new game world. They studied what worked well in Wasteland and built a new game around those ideas. Designer Chris Taylor said the team was inspired by the book A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) and the movies Mad Max 2 (1981) and The City of Lost Children (1995). The first Fallout games were released almost ten years after Wasteland.
Games
Fallout was released in October 1997. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic Southern California in the year 2161. The main character, called the Vault Dweller, must find a water chip in the Wasteland to fix the broken one in their underground home, Vault 13. Later, the Vault Dweller must stop a group of mutants led by a large, strange creature named the Master. Fallout was first planned to use the GURPS role-playing game system. However, a disagreement with the creator of GURPS, Steve Jackson, over the game’s violent content led Black Isle Studios to create a new system called SPECIAL. The game’s style and artwork remind people of the United States during the Cold War era, a time when many feared nuclear war.
Fallout 2 was released in October 1998. It had improvements over the first game, such as a better game engine, the ability to set attitudes for non-player characters (NPCs) in the player’s party, and the ability to push people blocking doors. The game also included more jokes and parodies of pop culture, such as references to Monty Python and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It also had dialogue that directly addressed the player, breaking the fourth wall. Fallout 2 takes place 80 years after Fallout and follows a descendant of the Vault Dweller, the protagonist of the first game. The player controls the Chosen One, the Vault Dweller’s grandchild, who must save their village, Arroyo, from famine and drought. After saving the village, the Chosen One must fight the Enclave, the remnants of the pre-war United States government and the group in charge of the vault project.
Fallout 3 was developed by Bethesda Game Studios and released on October 28, 2008. The story begins 30 years after the events of Fallout 2 and 200 years after a nuclear war destroyed the game’s world. The player controls a character from Vault 101 who is forced to leave when the Overseer tries to arrest them for their father leaving the Vault. Once outside, the player is called the Lone Wanderer and travels to the Capital Wasteland, around Washington, D.C., to find their father. This game uses 3D graphics, a free-roam world, and real-time combat, unlike earlier games that used 2D isometric graphics and turn-based combat. It was made for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 using the Gamebryo engine. It received high praise, with scores of 94 out of 100 for the PC version, 92 out of 100 for the PlayStation 3 version, and 93 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version on Metacritic. It won IGN’s 2008 Overall Game of the Year Award, Xbox 360 Game of the Year, Best RPG, and Best Use of Sound, as well as E3’s Best of the Show and Best Role Playing Game.
Fallout 4, developed by Bethesda Game Studios, was released on November 10, 2015. The game was made for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is set in Boston, Massachusetts, in the New England Commonwealth. The game includes voiced protagonists. The Xbox One version allows players to use mods, confirmed in 2016. After negotiations with Sony, mods were also added for the PlayStation 4. A virtual reality version was released on December 11, 2017, on SteamVR. Fallout 4 takes place in the year 2287, 10 years after the events of Fallout 3. The story begins on October 23, 2077, the day the bombs dropped. The player’s character, called the Sole Survivor, takes shelter in Vault 111 and emerges 210 years later after being in suspended animation. The Sole Survivor searches for their son, who was taken from the Vault.
In June 2022, Todd Howard said in an interview that Fallout 5 would start development after The Elder Scrolls VI was finished, but no release date was given. In July 2025, it was reported that Fallout 5 was "fully greenlit," meaning development would begin. However, it was unclear which studio would lead the project, as key studios at Bethesda were working on Starfield DLC and The Elder Scrolls VI at the time.
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is the first Fallout game not to use turn-based combat. It is also the first game that lets players customize the skills, perks, and combat actions of other party members. The game focuses more on tactical combat than on role-playing. It includes different combat modes, stances, and modifiers, but players cannot choose dialogue options. Most criticism of the game came from its story not matching the original two games, not from its gameplay. The game has a multiplayer mode where players can compete against other players’ squads. Unlike earlier games set in California, Fallout Tactics takes place in the Midwestern United States. It was released in early 2001 and received mostly positive reviews. In 2020, Emil Pagliarulo said that elements and lore from Fallout Tactics were used in later Fallout games by Bethesda Softworks.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was the first Fallout game for consoles, released in 2004. It follows an initiate in the Brotherhood of Steel who is given a dangerous mission to find lost Brotherhood Paladins. The game is an action role-playing game, a big change from earlier Fallout games in both gameplay and style. It does not include non-player characters who fight alongside the player and uses heavy metal music, such as songs by Slipknot, Devin Townsend, and Killswitch Engage. This is different from earlier Fallout games, which used music by The Ink Spots, The Mills Brothers, and Louis Armstrong. It was the last Fallout game made by Interplay.
Fallout: New Vegas is a 2010 action role-playing game made by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is set in the post-apocalyptic Mojave Wasteland in the year 2281. The story follows the Courier, a mysterious character who is left for dead after being attacked while delivering a valuable package. Unlike earlier Fallout games, New Vegas introduces multiple factions fighting for control of the region, including the New California Republic (NCR), Caesar’s Legion, and the mysterious Mr. House. The game is known for its deep story choices, player freedom, and branching narratives. It uses the same engine as Fallout 3, with first- and third-person combat, open-world exploration, and a dialogue system that affects the story. A "Hardcore Mode" adds survival elements, such as managing hunger, thirst, and sleep. The setting is inspired by real-world Las Vegas, with landmarks like the New Vegas Strip and Hoover Dam. Players can side with factions, create their own path, or manipulate events to suit their goals. The game has a large modding community, with many fan-made expansions and improvements. Despite early problems with bugs, Fallout: New Vegas became a cult classic, praised for its writing, humor, and role-playing features.
Gameplay
SPECIAL is a system used to create characters and track their abilities in the Fallout video game series. The name "SPECIAL" is an abbreviation for seven traits: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. This system was inspired by a game called GURPS, which was originally planned for use in Fallout.
The SPECIAL system was first used in the games Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. A changed version of the system was later used in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Fallout Shelter.
Outside the Fallout series, a modified version of SPECIAL was used in Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (earlier called Fallout Fantasy), a fantasy game that included magic and spirits. A version of SPECIAL was also planned for a game called Black Isle's Torn, though it was never completed.
The Pip-Boy is a wrist-mounted computer given to players in several Fallout games. It helps manage quests, inventory, and battles, and displays player stats. The original model, called the Pip-Boy 2000, appears in Fallout and Fallout 2. A modified version, the Pip-Boy 2000BE, is in Fallout Tactics. Later games use the Pip-Boy 3000, with Fallout: New Vegas featuring a golden version called the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. Fallout 4 uses the Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV, and Fallout 76 uses the Pip-Boy 2000 Mark VI.
Vault Boy is the mascot of Vault-Tec, a company in the Fallout world. He appears on products like the Pip-Boy, where he displays character stats. Starting with Fallout 3, Vault Boy also models clothing and weapons. He was designed by Leonard Boyarsky, partly inspired by the character Rich Uncle Pennybags from the board game Monopoly.
Power armor is a type of mechanical suit used in all Fallout games. It protects the wearer from attacks and allows them to carry heavy weapons and objects. It is a key part of the Fallout universe and a symbol in the game's story.
The original design of power armor in Fallout was created by Leonard Boyarsky. The helmet’s look was influenced by the movie The City of Lost Children. The design was later changed to match concept art Boyarsky made.
Power armor has appeared in many Fallout games, helping keep the series visually connected. In Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, the armor was made smaller due to game limitations, which upset some fans. A fan-made mod called Titans of The New West 2.0 was created to restore the original look.
In Fallout 4, power armor became more interactive, with players climbing into suits that require fusion cores to operate. The design was changed to look more realistic and like a vehicle. Players can also collect and display power armor in the game.
According to the lore, power armor was created before the Great War by a group called West Tek. It was developed to help the U.S. military fight China. The armor was used in battles leading up to the Great War, which caused massive destruction.
After the war, the Brotherhood of Steel, a group that protects technology, uses power armor. A toy version of power armor was released in 2016 by ThreeZero, and a special edition of Fallout 76 included a replica helmet. Some fans praised the design but criticized the paint and visor quality.
Series overview
The series takes place in a fictional United States that follows a different history after World War II. In this world, scientific progress is based on vacuum tubes and atomic physics, not transistors. This leads to a mix of advanced technology, such as robots, nuclear-powered cars, and energy weapons, alongside 1950s-style computers and televisions. The United States splits into 13 regions called commonwealths, and the 1950s style of life, including Cold War fears, continues into the 21st century.
More than 100 years before the series begins, an energy crisis happened because oil ran out. This led to the "Resource Wars" starting in 2052. These wars included conflicts between the European Commonwealth and Middle Eastern states (2053–2060), the United States invading Mexico (2051), annexing Canada (2072), and China invading Alaska (2066). These events caused the "Sino-American War" (2066–2077) and the spread of a deadly disease called the "New Plague" (2053). As global problems worsened, the U.S. government became more aggressive and controlling, arresting political opponents and Chinese-American citizens. They were sent to re-education camps where they were mistreated. By 2077, tensions between the U.S. and China reached a breaking point, leading to the "Great War" on October 23, 2077. This war caused a global nuclear exchange, destroying most of the United States and creating the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout.
In 2054, the U.S. government started building fallout shelters called "Vaults" to protect people from nuclear disasters. Vault-Tec Corporation designed these shelters, each meant to hold up to 1,000 people. However, only 122 Vaults were built, even though 400,000 were needed. Most Vaults were not meant to help repopulate the country but were secret experiments to study how different conditions affect people. Seventeen Vaults worked as planned, but most were poorly built and unreliable. Many Vaults remained sealed even after radiation levels dropped to safe levels.
The experiments inside the Vaults included: a Vault with clones of one person, a Vault where people were frozen, a Vault where residents were given drugs, a Vault where one person was sacrificed each year, a Vault with one man and puppets, a Vault where people were divided into hostile groups, Vaults with unequal numbers of men and women, a Vault where the door never closed, a Vault with limited space and weapons, an overcrowded Vault, and Vaults where people were exposed to a virus that caused mutations. Most experiments failed, leading to the collapse of the Vaults. Some were later taken over by raiders, mutants, or other dangerous creatures.
After the Great War, the United States became a wasteland. The war and nuclear explosions killed many people, leaving large areas of the country ruined. Most food and water are radioactive, and many animals and plants mutated due to radiation and other chemicals. Some areas survived with clean water and plants, but these are rare. With most cities destroyed, people trade goods using bottle caps as money. Many towns are empty, and survivors live in small, temporary communities.
People who survived the nuclear explosions but were exposed to radiation became "ghouls." Their bodies decay over time, and they often lose their hair and speak with a rough voice. Ghouls usually dislike normal humans and are insulted if called zombies. Those exposed to more radiation may lose their minds and become dangerous.
Creatures called "Deathclaws" live in the wasteland. They were created by humans as weapons before the war. After the war, they survived and became top predators. Deathclaws are famous in the Fallout series for their strength and fear factor. Many game modifications let players tame or use them in battles, which later became an official feature.
In the wasteland, several human groups formed, including the Brotherhood of Steel, the New California Republic (NCR), the Enclave, Caesar's Legion, and the Institute. Raider gangs like the Jackals, Vipers, and Khans also formed, originating from Vault 15, which later became the basis for Shady Sands and the NCR.
The Fallout series makes fun of 1950s and 1960s ideas about surviving a nuclear war. It uses old-style futuristic technology, such as vacuum tubes instead of transistors, and features buildings with Art Deco and Streamline Moderne designs. Weapons resemble those from Flash Gordon, and vehicles look like those from the 1950s. The series mixes optimism about a nuclear-powered future with the chaos that follows.
Other media
In 1998, Interplay Entertainment created a film division called Interplay Films to make movies based on its games. It announced plans to make a Fallout film, along with films based on Descent and Redneck Rampage. In 2000, Interplay said a Fallout movie was being made, with writer Brent V. Friedman working on a script and Dark Horse Entertainment helping to produce it. Later, the film division was closed without any movies being made. However, Friedman’s script was shared online in 2011.
In 2009, Bethesda Softworks said it wanted to make a Fallout film. After four years of not using the Fallout trademark, Bethesda sent a "Statement of Use" to the USPTO in January 2012. The next month, instead of a movie, Bethesda made a special feature called "Making of Fallout 3 DVD," which was counted as a film on March 27, 2012. This action allowed Bethesda to stop re-registering the trademark. In the DVD commentary for Mutant Chronicles, actor Ron Perlman said he would like to play the Narrator again if a Fallout film was made. In 2016, Todd Howard said Bethesda had refused offers to make a Fallout film but left the possibility open.
A Fallout television series was announced in July 2020 for Amazon Prime Video. Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan wrote, created, and produced the series. In January 2022, Amazon started production, with Nolan directing the first episode and Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner as showrunners. Filming ended on March 28, 2023. The series is part of the Fallout games’ story, set in the year 2296, the farthest point in the franchise’s timeline. Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins were cast as a new vault dweller and a ghoul mercenary. The first season, with eight episodes, premiered on April 10, 2024. In the same month, the series was renewed for a second season, set to begin on December 16, 2025. In May 2025, ahead of the second season, the series was renewed for a third season.
The Vault Dweller's Official Cookbook includes recipes for food items from the Fallout universe, such as Nuka-Cola and BlamCo Mac N’ Cheese. Victoria Rosenthal wrote the book, which was published on October 23, 2018, to match the release of Fallout 76 and the in-game date of the Great War.
The T-60 Power Armor appeared in Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode as a cosmetic outfit in Chapter 5 Season 3. It was part of a Battle Pass that included a pickaxe based on the Assaultron, an emote of a Mister Handy robot, and other Fallout-themed items. Nuka-Cola also appeared as a consumable item, and the laser rifle was added as a weapon in a later update.
In the summer of 2020, Vault Boy, the mascot of Vault-Tec, became a Mii Gunner costume in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch.
On June 18, 2024, Activision announced a collaboration between Call of Duty and Fallout. A cosmetic bundle was added to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone. The bundle included "Vault 141" outfits for four characters, Fallout-themed weapon skins, and other items. It was released on June 20, 2024, along with a free in-game event offering additional Fallout-themed items, such as a Nuka-Cola Quantum weapon camouflage.
A second collaboration, based on the Fallout television series, was announced in December 2025 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. It included playable characters Lucy, The Ghoul, and Maximus, along with Fallout-themed limited-time game modes and maps, such as a multiplayer mode where players who are killed respawn as feral ghouls.
Reception and legacy
The Fallout series has received mostly positive reviews. According to Metacritic, the highest-rated game is Fallout 3, and the lowest-rated is Fallout 76.
Some fans have been unhappy with how the series has changed since Bethesda Softworks acquired it. These fans, who strongly supported the first two games, Fallout and Fallout 2, have criticized changes to the stories, gameplay, and settings in later games. They have pointed out small issues, such as food not spoiling after 200 years or wooden houses surviving a nuclear explosion. They also criticized the large number of Super Mutants in early parts of the game. More serious concerns include poor writing, lack of realism, the shift to a first-person gameplay style, and a game world that does not respond well to player actions. In response, James Stephanie Sterling of Destructoid called fan groups like No Mutants Allowed "selfish" and "arrogant," saying new players deserve a chance to enjoy the series. Luke Winkie of Kotaku said the issue is about ownership, explaining that longtime fans felt their favorite games were changed in ways they did not like.
The redesigned dialogue system in Fallout 4 received mixed reactions. Fans who were not happy with the changes created player-made modifications to the game. These mods added subtitles and let players see what their character would say before choosing an option, similar to earlier games like Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. However, Patricia Hernandez of Kotaku criticized the game's writing, calling it "thin" and saying players rarely had long or complex conversations with other characters.
Fallout 76 received the lowest ratings upon release and has faced many controversies. IGN gave it a 5 out of 10, criticizing its weak graphics, poor use of multiplayer, and many bugs. They said, "Fallout 76 fails to do any of it well enough to form an identity. Its multiplayer mindset robs its quests of all the moral decision making that makes the series great, and all that's left is a buggy mess of systemic designs that never seems to work [culminating] in an aggravating endgame that's more busywork than satisfying heroics. Bethesda missed the mark with Fallout 76…because it seems it could never decide what it was aiming for." PC Gamer gave it a 6 out of 10, praising its beautiful setting, large world, and combat. However, they also criticized bugs, a poor user interface, and repetitive gameplay, saying, "[T]he world retains a lot of what I love about Bethesda's previous RPGs with finely crafted environments, enjoyable weapons and crafting, and surprising little scraps of story to uncover and investigate. Like Valley Galleria, though, it doesn't take long to for the shine to fade, the once-fascinating areas to lose their wonder among the mobs of identical enemies I've killed there time and time again."
Legal action
In 2007, Interplay faced financial trouble and sold the Fallout video game series to Bethesda. However, Interplay kept the right to develop a Fallout online game (an MMO) through a special agreement. Work on the MMO began later that year. In 2009, Bethesda sued Interplay for breaking copyright rules by selling the Fallout Trilogy and developing Fallout Online. Bethesda claimed Interplay did not have the right to sell the trilogy online and that the MMO was not developed fully or funded properly. Interplay responded by saying Bethesda’s claims were incorrect, stating they had the right to sell the trilogy online based on their contract and that the MMO met funding and development requirements. Interplay also argued that a contract allowing Bethesda to buy Fallout should be canceled, which would return Fallout rights to Interplay. This would allow Bethesda to create Fallout 5 and require them to pay 12% of royalties from Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and expansions, plus interest. On December 10, 2009, the court denied Bethesda’s first request to stop development.
Bethesda then replaced their first lawyer and filed a second request to stop Interplay, claiming Interplay only had the right to use the Fallout name, not the game’s content. Interplay countered by showing the contract required them to make an MMO that included Fallout’s style and elements, and that they could still release the game without Fallout content if they failed to meet requirements. The contract listed Fallout content as locations, monsters, settings, and stories. Interplay argued Bethesda knew and did not object to using Fallout elements in the MMO. The court denied Bethesda’s second request on August 4, 2011. Bethesda appealed the decision, but lost. Bethesda then sued Masthead Studios and asked for a court order to stop them, but the request was denied before Masthead could respond.
Bethesda and Interplay both filed motions to limit what evidence could be used in court. A trial requested by Bethesda was changed to a court trial instead of a jury trial because a contract stated legal matters should be resolved by a court. The trial began on December 12, 2010.
In 2012, Bethesda announced at a press event that Interplay sold them the right to develop Fallout Online for $2 million. Interplay’s rights to sell or use Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel expired on December 31, 2013.