Bethesda has confirmed that Fallout 5 will be influenced by Amazon’s Fallout TV series, with the next game set in a world shaped by the events and stories depicted in the live-action adaptation.
The confirmation comes from Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, who discussed the future of the franchise during an interview with BBC Newsbeat following the release of Fallout Season 2.
Howard has been closely involved with the Fallout series, having directed Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, as well as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Skyrim, giving him long-term oversight of Bethesda’s major RPG worlds.
Fallout 5 will reflect the events of the TV series
When asked whether the Amazon series would influence the next Fallout game, Howard responded directly, confirming that the TV show’s events will be acknowledged within the game’s setting.
According to Howard, Fallout 5 will exist in a world where the stories and events of the show have happened or are actively happening, with the development team taking those developments into account during production.
While Howard stopped short of revealing specific narrative details, the statement confirms a shared canon between the TV series and the upcoming game, rather than treating the adaptation as a standalone reinterpretation.
The Fallout TV series is set after the timeline of the existing Fallout games, meaning characters and events introduced in the show could have lasting consequences for the next mainline RPG entry.
This approach allows Bethesda to expand the Fallout universe across different media while maintaining continuity, potentially shaping locations, factions, and power dynamics players encounter in Fallout 5.
Despite the confirmation, Bethesda has not shared a release window or detailed development roadmap for Fallout 5, beyond acknowledging that the game is currently in development.
Howard reiterated that Fallout 5 will likely launch after The Elder Scrolls 6, Bethesda’s next major single-player RPG, which was first announced in 2018.
The Elder Scrolls 6 still does not have a release date, and Howard has recently stated that the game remains “a long way off,” suggesting Fallout 5 is also several years away.
For now, Bethesda appears focused on aligning its long-running RPG franchises with broader storytelling efforts, using the success of Amazon’s Fallout series to help shape the future of the game world rather than replacing it.
