The first episode of Fallout season 2 is out today, with the show releasing weekly episodes until early February (when we'll no doubt get a ridiculous cliffhanger before waiting another year for the next season). As part of the show's marketing various grandees have been doing the interview rounds, including Todd Howard, who's now served up the merest sliver of information about how the show will tie in to future games in the series.
But first, it's time to butter up executive producer Jonathan Nolan. Bethesda execs have previously spoken about how a Fallout adaptation could've come much sooner, except Howard didn't want the usual "videogame directors" to come in and make a hash of it. But Nolan, co-writer on the likes of Westworld, Interstellar, and the Dark Knight trilogy?
"It turned out he was a huge fan of Fallout," Howard told the BBC's Newsbeat, adding that the two have become "very close friends" working on the show. "Everyone involved is on the same page with how they want to treat it with authenticity."
That authenticity is what led to an early decision that the TV show would be "canon" within the Fallout universe. Bethesda vet Emil Pagliarulo says this simply means that "everything that happens in the show happened in the games, or will happen in the games." Erm… ignore that shack filled with hundreds of human skulls, mmkay?
"It's really about getting the tone right, but they were very respectful of where we wanted to take it," says Pagliarulo, mentioning the odd "late-night text" asking if something was "canonically right" before shooting. "It was always a back-and-forth. It's really fun."
The flipside of such an approach being that, outside of Bethesda's ongoing support and expansions for Fallout 76, there hasn't been a new Fallout game in 9 years, and Bethesda's current focus is The Elder Scrolls 6. Howard is asked whether the show will have an impact on Fallout 5.
"In short, yes," says Howard. "Fallout 5 will be existing in a world where the stories and events of the show happened or are happening.
"We are taking that into account."
Good thing or bad thing? It's hard to tell and depends on the approach. To be clear, I think the Fallout show is absolutely great. Oblique references and nods to what goes on in it seem like a good idea, but I'm not sure anyone really wants Lucy or the Ghoul turning up in Fallout 5 (others will feel differently). But the game feels like it's many years away, so we'll have to wait and see.
As for the show's impact on the games and attracting new players, our man says they're past that stage now.
"There's still so many people that won't play a game," says Howard. "I think that's getting better but there's still people who are intimidated.
"They still get to experience Fallout and I think that's really important because they're now equal fans of the world."
Fallout Season 2's first episode premieres December 17, and this time around focuses on New Vegas. The good news is, per PCG's Jody Macgregor, it's great so far.
