The success of Amazon’s “Fallout” TV series has led to a surge in players for the “Fallout” video game franchise. In an exclusive interview, Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard discussed the impact of the show and the future of the series. “Fallout 76” recently crossed 20 million players, a significant increase from the 17 million it had in December. This uptick coincides with the release of the “Fallout” TV adaptation on Prime Video. Howard said, “It’s kind of been sneaky popular for a while — but not to this level, and it’s just been really great for the whole studio.”
Since the series premiered, daily active users across the “Fallout” games have surged by over 600% to more than 5 million players. Howard noted, “Depending on the ‘Fallout’ game, you’re looking at a 4-6x increase in daily players, which is beyond anything I’ve ever seen in my 30 years of doing this.”
The total number of concurrent players has also increased across various titles, including “Fallout 76,” “Fallout Shelter,” “Fallout 4,” “Fallout 3,” and “Fallout New Vegas.” “Fallout 4” and “Fallout 76” currently rank within the Top 7 first-party Xbox Game Pass games by hours played. The “Fallout” TV series garnered 65 million viewers in its first 16 days, making it the second most-watched title on Prime Video since “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” in 2022. Regarding plans for “Fallout” Season 2, Howard said the focus will continue to be on the characters from Season 1. “The one thing about TV that Jonah told me from Day One is it’s about finding the characters. And I think it’s really awesome how these characters have resonated with the audience,” he said.
Fallout’s player surge sparked by TV
As for future games in the “Fallout” series, Howard revealed that discussions are ongoing. “We’re in plans for future games in this series, and nothing to talk about right now, but we’re always planning,” he said. The success of the TV series has also impacted the games industry’s charts. Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Fallout: New Vegas were among the most-played games in the US in April 2024, according to Circana’s engagement charts.
Fallout 4 ranked No.8 on PlayStation 5, No.6 on Xbox Series X|S, and No.4 on Steam. Fallout 76 reached No.5 on Steam and No.10 on Xbox, while Fallout: New Vegas appeared at No.8 in the Steam rankings. The renewed interest in the Fallout games has significantly boosted their positions in the sales charts across the UK, Europe, and the US. While fans speculate about the next Fallout game, Howard confirmed that Bethesda is working on future titles in the series but isn’t ready to share details yet. He acknowledged that creating a modern Bethesda game is a lengthy process and hinted that they are “always planning,” but he doesn’t expect Fallout 5 to be released before 2030.
One confirmed detail is that future Fallout games will “predominantly” be set in the US. As the wait for the next installment continues, the success of the Fallout TV show could influence the development and release timeline of future games in the series.
