It’s been a whole ten years since the launch date of Fallout 3! The occasion was marked by Bethesda on social media as their first Fallout release turned ten years old; “It’s Fallout 3’s 10th birthday and you know what that means. Time to put on that Pip-Boy 3000 and take on those Vault responsibilities.”
Happy birthday, pal!
It’s #Fallout3’s 10th birthday and you know what that means. Time to put on that Pip-Boy 3000 and take on those Vault responsibilities. pic.twitter.com/gRZntfYE5r— Fallout (@Fallout) October 28, 2018
Bethesda Marks the 10th Anniversary of the Launch of Fallout 3
The 10th anniversary, as the Tweet references, is particularly noteworthy for Fallout 3. After all, the game’s opening sequence begins at the player character’s 10th birthday party in Vault 101. It’s also noteworthy for the fact that Fallout 3 was the first Fallout game developed by Bethesda. The studio acquired the rights to the franchise from Interplay Entertainment, following that company’s bankruptcy, and re-imagined the series into a first-person, real-time RPG. Prior to that, the Fallout games had been an RPG, but was turn-based with an isometric perspective.
Since the release of Fallout 3, Bethesda has overseen Fallout’s transformation into one of the largest RPG franchises in gaming history. Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, and even Fallout Shelter have all been great successes for the company. Now, ten years later, Bethesda is once again taking a bold step and re-imagining the series; this time as a multiplayer title. Although Bethesda’s representatives have been clear that they don’t plan to pivot to multiplayer titles in the future, it is still fitting that Bethesda should mark the tenth anniversary of their first re-envisioning of Fallout with another one.
Fallout 76 is already playable in Beta form, and will launch fully on the 14th of November. Following that release, it’s unknown what Bethesda may have planned for the franchise. Fans should expect plenty of post-launch support for the game, of course. However, Todd Howard has been clear that Fallout 76 is a spin-off and not a continuation of the main series. We could still see a Fallout 5 at some point in the future.