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Fallout 5 will happen, but not before Starfield & Elder Scrolls 6 are done

Todd Howard says Bethesda has a one-pager on Fallout 5 already, but the developer wants to launch Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 first.

TJ Denzer

November 10, 2021 8:00 AM

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Bethesda has a lot of projects in the pipeline, especially since it was acquired by Microsoft, and it certainly wants to get to all of them in due time, including a possible new mainline Fallout game. However, according to a recent interview with Todd Howard, Bethesda has its priorities set. Before a Fallout 5 can happen, the developer needs to wrap up and launch Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6.

Todd Howard shared his thoughts on the possibility of Fallout 5 in a recent interview with IGN. When asked about the possibility of Fallout 5, Todd Howard shared that the next game is likely, but there’s quite a bit to do beforehand. Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 are already confirmed and Bethesda would like to finish them before it turns its attention to another Fallout game. With Starfield set for release in November 2022 and Elder Scrolls 6 just having been announced and in an early design phase, that likely means it’s going to be a few years before we get to see a Fallout 5 announcement trailer.

There are other things to consider too. Not only is Bethesda now under the umbrella of Microsoft, but it has a whole bunch of good company alongside it, including Wasteland developers inXile and Fallout: New Vegas developers Obsidian Entertainment. To that end, IGN also asked Todd Howard if it’s possible that development of Fallout 5 might go to one of Microsoft Studios’ other developers, an idea which Howard played down, but didn’t shut down entirely.

“I don’t see… Look, Fallout’s really part of our DNA here,” Howard said. “We’ve worked with other people from time to time, I can’t say what’s going to happen. You know, we have a one-pager on Fallout 5, what we want to do.”

One way or the other, it seems Fallout 5 will happen eventually. That said, if it’s up to Bethesda, it seems we won’t see it until at least after Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6 are wrapped up.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.