The Fallout universe has begun a pretty significant expansion with the release of the hit TV adaptation released on Prime Video. There are more than 100 vaults located across the U.S., each of them holding a different horrific experiment inside — but longtime fans have pondered about what life outside of the U.S. must look like. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though Bethesda plans to give us any answers.
In an interview with the Kinda Funny Games podcast, Bethesda Executive Producer Todd Howard shared that he currently has no plans to take future Fallout games outside of the U.S. “My view is part of the Fallout schtick is on the Americana naivete and part of that. And so, for us right now, it’s okay to acknowledge some of those other areas but our plans are to predominately keep it in the US,” he told the podcast’s host.
“It’s okay to leave mystery or questions, ‘What is happening in Europe? What is happening here?’” he continued. “In Elder Scrolls everyone wants to go to these specific lands, and I’m known for saying the worst thing you can do to mysterious lands is to remove the mystery. I keep the mysterious lands mysterious.” It seems those hoping Fallout 5 will finally take the narrative overseas will have to look elsewhere for answers.
There’s little information in the Fallout games about what life post-apocalypse is like outside of the U.S. In Fallout 3, Allistair Tenpenny is an NPC who relocated to the Capital Wasteland from Great Britain, but he refused to share details about his life before coming to the U.S. Some players initially interpreted this as evidence that things were not great across the pond. Still, there’s actually little evidence in the world’s canon to suggest other countries are in as poor shape as the U.S. is.
In an effort to fill in some of these gaps, a Fallout: London mod is in development by Team FOLON. The mod, which is expected to release exclusively for PC relatively soon, offers an entirely new storyline set in fictional post-apocalyptic London in 2237 (50 years before the events of Fallout 4). The mod is the size of a DLC, and though it’s made for Fallout 4, it’ll follow an entirely original storyline separate from the base game.
Fallout: London was originally slated to release on April 23, though an announcement from Bethesda that Fallout 4 would be updated just two days later postponed the mod’s release date. An exact release date isn’t available just yet, as the reception to the recent patch was so bad players are making different mods to undo the changes Bethesda made.
Though it’s possible Bethesda will change its mind on potential future settings, especially as the Fallout TV show continues to explore more corners of the U.S. post-nuclear fallout, Howard didn’t even acknowledge the mod’s existence in his interview. The developer has confirmed that Fallout 5 is in the company’s future, though whether it releases before or after Elder Scrolls 6 remains to be seen. Those looking for Fallout settings outside America will have to look for more mods to satisfy their curiosity.
Source: Kinda Funny Games/YouTube, Fallout: London