Todd, Todd never changes. In the aftermath of Starfield’s grand gameplay reveal during this year’s Xbox Bethesda Showcase, Todd Howard has turned the world upside down with the mere utterance of the words Fallout 5. In addition to the studio's tendency to overpromise on projects, Bethesda brings projects into the public eye before they are barely more than a glimmer in Todd’s piercing eyes. By the time Fallout 5 has come out we might be playing it as we explore more than a thousand planets in our real lives.
Let’s do the math — In an interview with IGN, Howard revealed what players can expect from Bethesda after Starfield said, “Yes, Elder Scrolls VI is in pre-production. And, you know, we’re going to be doing Fallout 5 after that, so our slate’s pretty full going forward for a while.”
Oh Todd, my sweet summer child, will you never learn? Don’t tap the proverbial glass! It startles the Gamerz.
To even begin to guess when Fallout 5 could be released, some data must be collected from which we can make an educated guess. Let’s look at games that Todd Howard has served as a director on.
- 2008 — Fallout 3
- 2011 — Skyrim
- 2015 — Fallout 4
- 2023 — Starfield (if it isn’t delayed again)
- ??? — The Elder Scrolls VI
- ??? — Fallout 5
The time between Todd’s releases is exponentially growing from game to game! Mathematically, if trends continue as they have, The Elder Scrolls VI won’t be released until 15 years after Starfield. And then, Fallout 5 wouldn’t arrive for another 25 years.
According to the irrefutable laws of mathematics, Fallout 5 will be released in 2063. That’s less than 15 years before Cyberpunk 2077 becomes real.
A Beautiful Dream — What will our lives look like in 2063? Will Todd be able to keep Fallout relevant? I can only assume that NASA will have been so inspired by the scale and sense of exploration that Starfield will provide that we will see a resurgence in space exploration on a scale never seen.
After a long day of exploring planets in our new space-faring society, I envision a world in which I return home to my atmospheric pod on some quiet asteroid or alien moon. My space wife will cook up a delicious space dinner and we chat about our space days.
In the evening, I want to unwind with some gaming, so I boot up my Xbox Triple X and play Fallout 5. It makes me miss home. I haven’t been back to Earth since I took this job out in the depths of the Milky Way to support my kids. But Todd always delivers, and I roam the wastelands of Earth, reminiscing. A single tear rolls down my cheek.
The internet has some thoughts — Twitter doesn’t have as optimistic a vision of Fallout 5 as I do. Fans of Bethesda have many concerns and are not afraid to say it.
Some fans are being faced with the idea of their mortality, and the constant forward march of time.
Others are making jokes about how far into the process Fallout 5 is at this point.
Many believe that by the game's release life will look a lot like Fallout.
A few optimists believe that the backing of Microsoft will help speed up the development process.
Ultimately, only Todd knows what Fallout 5 will hold for players. For the rest of us, only time will tell.
