Written by Matt Wyer (Dogghead Founder)
The Fallout Game Series
What fans want & what isn't happening.
Happy Birthday?
I had planned what I was doing on my birthday this year. Not a big day out or celebration, but a simple chilled day. My birthday was on 4th February and turning 38 years old meant I was done with the rager nights out, copious beers and 2-day hangovers, that's simply not my thing anymore. What is more my thing is to get stuck in to good campaign on a game I really enjoy. It can be an escape and a distraction from the chaotic world around. A bit of a solace. Imagine my excitement when rumours started circulating that the 4th February 2026 was also the rumoured release date of a remastered Fallout 3 & New Vegas game for the current generation of console. It would be a great excuse for me to download a wicked couple of games and kick back.
The release would coincide with a mysterious countdown on the Amazon website in conclusion to the 2nd season of the Fallout TV series. It was a rumour created by fans who connected the dots and came up with their own conclusion. Something huge that had been demanded for years: A remaster! What actually happened was that some behind-the-scenes content was released for the TV show. Hope turned to disappointment and frustration. There was no remake and we're all still waiting.
But there's no smoke, without fire.
A remaster has reportedly in the pipeline for a while and with the release of the popular Elder Scrolls: Oblivion remaster 22nd April 2025, it has made fans hopeful that there will be a similar release for Fallout (especially since that announcement for Oblivion came out the blue and was dropped on the same day of release). A Fallout remaster is happening at some point, it's just no one knows when.
Add to that the anticipation of the last 'Fallout Day' in 2025. If you're not familiar with Fallout Day, it's basically when Bethesda (the games developer) get to showcase new Fallout products and additions each year on October 23rd, which is the same day in the game when the bombs dropped in the Fallout universe. But in 2025, there was no new game announcement. No production update. Just some more Fallout 76 stuff (that no one asked for) and the news that Fallout 4 is being released on yet another platform (Nintendo Switch 2, 24/02/26), just in case that game hadn't been milked entirely dry. The announcements included anniversary editions of past games, celebrating Fallout 4 being released 10 years ago and New Vegas being 15 years old and also giving a clear reminder as to how long its been since we first ventured in to those Wastelands. It has certainly been a while. So why has it taken so long?
Simply put; Development has been elsewhere
Whilst every Fallout fan would love a new game and return to its origins after the s#!tshow of Fallout 76 in 2018 but it's obvious that this will not happen for a long time. Game development has never been harder and gone are the days of a studio smashing out multiple releases each year. Fallout fans know this and have accepted this.
After the release of Fallout 4 in 2015, development began immediately on Starfield, a new RPG released in 2023, which was received relatively well but was slightly underwhelming. With Starfield being released as a Microsoft exclusive, it perhaps didn't help with sales, seeing as the Xbox Series X|S console has not sold particularly well. Bethesda, however, pushed this game hard on release. It was impossible for me to walk to work through London centre without spotting a bus covered in Starfield graphics, or flicking on the telly without an advert popping up. It is now rumoured that plans are being made to port this to PS5, which isn't surprising as its no longer going to spearhead the drive of unit sales of Xbox consoles anymore.
There has also been focus on developing the floundering Fallout 76 product which has been helped hugely by the Amazon TV series. It is safe to say that the release of Fallout 76 was a huge disappointment and came under fire even before it was released, with fans pushing back against the multiplayer gameplay and even creating a petition to include a single-player mode, not to mention issues the game had during development with many employees quitting the project. It didn't get any better when the game hit the shelves, with players complaining of expensive in-game purchases and that gameplay favoured those who were prepared to throw real money at upgrades. There was a huge disconnect between the developer and the player, which wasn't helped by their banning of some modders who were simply addressing technical problems instead of gaining a gameplay advantage. In another slap-in-the-face moment, developers did finally include a single-player mode, however this was by way of a subscription at a monthly cost to the player. The single-player mode that fans had asked for before the game was released, was now available but behind a pay-wall. A pretty nasty move if you ask me and hardly one that prioritised the player. Add to that the necessity to be hooked up to the internet in order to even play it, means that they can pull the plug at any time and remove the game entirely, even though you've paid for it. More naff ingredients in a recipe for a horrid game. Fallout 76 tried something different, but no one asked for it.
Although Fallout 76 has been written off by many, it was not a title that could be afforded to be thrown on the scrapheap. It is estimated that Fallout 76 cost upwards of a whopping $100 million to develop, so it needed to work and be developed further. Bethesda did offer some apology for the mess they created by giving F76 players a free copy of a their 'Fallout Classics Collection' on PC. They have since ironed out some of the technical problems with the game which has created a better player experience, but for many, the damage was already done and the title is often ignored by some fans.
Enter, the Fallout TV Series.
Whilst the latest game was panned, the TV series has been huge hit and introduced a whole new group of people to the Fallout series whilst acting as a Nicotine patch for existing fans. The first series brought in 65 million viewers on Amazon Prime in its first 16 days and over 100 million by October 2024, due to great review scores and multiple award nominations. The foundation of great casting and great story telling was partnered perfectly with being true to the game series. The team of producers included Todd Howard, (the guy who is very much the driving force of the Fallout franchise) and it was clear that the show be as authentic to the game as possible. The music in show plays is used in the games and some of the props and set design that are used in the show were 3D printed using game files. The costume design; identical to the game. The show was created as a 'game brought to life', instead of being an adaptation. Todd Howard stated the team achieved "obsessive authenticity" and that is absolutely right. Fans of the games could really connect with the show.
The 2nd season of the show (released 16/12/25 Amazon Prime, UK) was also a massive hit. Although it didn't initially hit the viewership numbers of the first season, due to being released in weekly episodes instead of all at once. The second season has actually received even better review scores than the first! This season resonated further with the dedicated Fallout fanbase by diving in to the lore of New Vegas which is what many fans consider to be their favourite game in the series. Fans of the TV show who are looking to introduce themselves in to the game series however, were more likely to try-out the most recent games on more recent platforms, which has proven to be Fallout 76's salvation. Without the TV show, it would have been very difficult for the game to have stayed relevant, no matter how many 'Steam sales' it features on. On release, Fallout 76 sold a meagre 1.4 million copies however with help of the TV series, claimed to have around 20 million players after the release of the 1st Season, so these figures should have increased even more since then. The TV show has done the heavy lifting in keeping Fallout 76s head above water, but it means the game will continue to be supported.
Old titles. New platforms. Mad prices.
Todd Howard stated as recently as early 2026 that most Fallout players are still playing Fallout 4. This explains why Fallout 4 continues to be re-released as fans of the TV series dip their toes in to games themselves. What better way to get more game sales, than to sell a game that's already been tried and tested, to a new group of Fallout fans that have never played the game? The release of 'Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition' for Nintendo Switch 2, launches 24/02/26 for the obscene price of £52.99 on the Nintendo Store for download. That's £52.99 for a download of a 10 year old game. Meanwhile, pre-owned copies for the PS4 version are currently available for around £4 and can be run in an increased 60fps on PS5.
The Switch 2 game release will not appeal to any fan of the game series as it's already been played to death.
I've put in over 800 hours of gameplay into Fallout 4 since it was released on PS4 and I know there are some hardcore gamers that have put in far, far more. Don't forget, the Switch 2 version is not a remake or remaster. It's simply being released on another platform. However I have no doubt that this will sell well in terms of numbers as fans of the TV series get their first sample of the game universe, but it leaves a bitter taste for fans of the game series who are still craving a remaster of the games they love. A 3D remake of the original isometric Fallout 2 game are also circulating, which shows how much fans of this series are dying to sink their teeth in to something new, even if that thing isn't technically 'new'.
Squeezing as much out of a game title as possible is nothing that hasn't been done before. The Grand Theft Auto series totally bypassing new content for PS4/Xbox One and focusing on online gameplay is the perfect example of this and has the same core motivation: Money. GTA Online has proved to be massively lucrative, so their focus was on what was generating the most money. AAA game titles, such as Fallout, are incredibly expensive projects so it's understandable that a developer would want to see as much of a return on their investment as possible. The art is how to balance that with the demands of their fanbase, and that's where I feel Bethesda have got things slightly wrong. Re-releasing old games on new platforms isn't horrendous, but when you couple that with the disastrous Fallout 76 release in 2018, you have a developer who has ignored constant feedback and failed to deliver anything to the Fallout gaming series since 2015.
Bethesda will claim they got it right. They helped release a great TV show which boosted their sales of existing products and the release on Switch 2 will probably be a success. Their spreadsheets will no doubt look impressive. Well done. I'm sure their shareholders will be very happy.
So why a remaster?
Because it's the closest thing we're going to get to a new game for a long time. The Fallout faithful have settled for a remaster. Remasters have been a popular alternative to new releases and provide an updated experience for some of our favourite titles. I adored the original release of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion when it was released on PS3 and still do. It's still immensely charming. That being said, it certainly hasn't aged too well. I replayed the original version a while back, and those 'incredible graphics' and rolling hills were actually quite sparse and repetitive by todays standards. That's not to say I still don't enjoy the game, but merely that it's showing its age, which is totally fine. The remaster, however brings these visuals up to current day in stunning 1620p. Fallout fans merely want to see their favourite titles in a more immersive world. A remaster of Fallout 3 & New Vegas would have fans salivating.
So what happens now?
Well, nothing. We sit and hope that one day there will be a random trailer uploaded to the Bethesda YouTube channel, telling us that a remaster is available. Goodness knows when it'll happen. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that I can deep dive into some Fallout remasters before I turn 39. Until then, I'm sure we'll see some more versions of Fallout 4 and 76 released on a platform that doesn't need it. Regardless, I'll be waiting, just don't forget about the community that made the TV show possible.