As such, the distributor is celebrating the milestone with a series of events across the franchise throughout the month. In short, a ton of celebrations were planned for an entire month with things like a quiz, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber perks, a new Fallout Shelter update (the first in four years), an anniversary broadcast on Twitch, a free Xbox dynamic background, a free week of Fallout 76, and more. The distributor also published, this Monday, the planning of the month of celebrations of the game series, with “special events”, developer retrospectives, promotions and distribution of gifts for the community. The publisher will offer “deep discounts across the entire Fallout franchise” with an anniversary sale through October 12 on Xbox and PlayStation consoles and until October 18 on Steam.
25 years of history – The Electronic Arts era
Fallout is a role-playing game series set in a post-apocalyptic context – and later, an action role-playing game series – created by Interplay Entertainment. The series is set during the 21st, 22nd and 23rd centuries, and its retrofuturistic atompunk setting and aesthetic is influenced by post-war 1950s American culture, with its combination of hope in the promises of technology and constant fear of nuclear annihilation. A precursor to the post-nuclear series of games is Wasteland, a 1988 game developed by Interplay Productions to which the series is considered a spiritual successor. At that time, Interplay was not a publisher and used Electronic Arts to publisher the game. According to Interplay founder Brian Fargo, they wanted to explore a post-apocalyptic setting and created Wasteland for that. Some time after launch, Interplay decided to change focus and become a publisher while still developing games.
25 years of history – The Interplay era
Fargo wanted to continue to use Wasteland’s intellectual property, but was unable to negotiate the rights back from Electronic Arts. Still wanting to do something in a post-apocalyptic setting, Fargo and his team decided to make a new setting and game. They determined which aspects of Wasteland were positive and wrote and developed a new game around them. The result was the first games in the franchise, released nearly ten years after Wasteland. The first title in the series, Fallout, was developed by Black Isle Studios and released in 1997, and its sequel, Fallout 2, the following year. With the tactical RPG Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, development was handed over to Micro Forté and 14 Degrees East. In 2004, Interplay closed Black Isle Studios, and continued to produce Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, an action game with RPG elements for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, without Black Isle Studios.
25 years of history – The Bethesda era
After acquiring the rights to the game, Bethesda licensed them to make a Massively Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPG) version of the RPG for Interplay. Interplay’s MMORPG has reached the beta stage, but a long legal dispute started between Bethesda Softworks and Interplay. This dispute halted the game’s development and led to its eventual cancellation, as Bethesda claimed in court that Interplay had not complied with the terms and conditions of the licensing agreement. The case was settled in early 2012. Fallout 3, the third entry in the main series, was released by Bethesda Softworks, and was followed by Fallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Fallout 4, the last game in the main series, was released in 2015 and Fallout 76 was released on November 14, 2018. Bethesda Softworks currently owns the intellectual property rights to Fallout.
Fallout 1 (1997)
Released in October 1997, Fallout takes place in post-apocalyptic Southern California, beginning in the year 2161. The protagonist, known as the Vault Dweller, is tasked with retrieving a water chip from the wilds to replace the broken one in his safe haven, Vault 13. Afterwards, the Vault Dweller must thwart the plans of a group of mutants, led by a grotesque entity called the Master. Fallout was originally planned to run under the GURPS RPG system. However, a disagreement with GURPS creator Steve Jackson over the game’s violent content required Black Isle Studios to develop the new SPECIAL system. The atmosphere and art of Fallout is reminiscent of post-World War II America during the Cold War era and the fear that the country was heading for nuclear war in the real world.
Fallout 2 (1998)
Fallout 2 was released in October 1998, with several improvements over the first game, including an improved engine, the ability to set attitudes of non-player character group (NPC) members, and the ability to push people who are blocking doors (this is more important than it sounds). Additional features included several changes, including significantly more pop culture jokes and parodies, such as several special random encounters referencing Monty Python and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and self-parodying dialogue that breaks the fourth wall to mention game mechanics. Fallout 2 is set eighty years after Fallout, and revolves around a descendant of the Vault Dweller, the protagonist of Fallout 1. The player assumes the role of the Chosen One (the Vault Dweller’s true grandson) as he tries to save his village, Arroyo, from famine and drought. After saving the village, the Chosen must fight the Enclave, the remnants of the pre-war United States government (actually, the hidden government in charge of the Vault project as well).
Fallout 3 (2008)
Fallout 3 was developed by Bethesda Game Studios and released on October 28, 2008. The story begins thirty years after the setting of Fallout 2 and 200 years after the nuclear war that devastated the game world. The player character is a resident of Vault 101 who is forced to flee when the Overseer tries to arrest them in response to their father leaving the Vault. Once outside, the player is known as the Lone Wanderer and ventures into the Badlands around Washington, D.C., known as the Capital Wasteland, to find their father. It differs from previous games in the series by utilizing 3D graphics, an open game world and real-time combat, in contrast to the 2D isometric graphics of previous games and turn-based combat. It was developed for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 using the Gamebryo engine. It received highly positive reviews, earning 94/100, 92/100, and 93/100 as average scores on Metacritic for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game, respectively. It won IGN’s 2008 General Game of the Year, Xbox 360 Game of the Year, Best RPG and Best Use of Sound, as well as Best of Show at E3 and Best Roleplaying Game.
Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment and released on October 19, 2010. The development team included developers who previously worked on Fallout and Fallout 2. Fallout: New Vegas is not a direct sequel to Fallout 3. The events follow four years after Fallout 3 and offer a similar experience, but no characters from that game appear. The player takes on the role of The Courier in the post-apocalyptic setting of the Mojave Desert. As the game begins, The Courier is shot in the head and left for dead shortly before he is found and taken to a doctor in the nearby town of Goodsprings, marking the start of the game and the Courier’s search for his would-be killer. The City of New Vegas is a post-apocalyptic interpretation of Las Vegas.
Fallout 4 (2015)
Fallout 4, developed by Bethesda Game Studios, was released on November 10, 2015. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, in the game’s New England Commonwealth and features voiced protagonists. Community-created mods have been confirmed for the Xbox One version starting in 2016. Bethesda has also confirmed mods for PlayStation 4, after lengthy negotiations with Sony. A virtual reality version of the game was released on December 11, 2017, available on SteamVR. Fallout 4 takes place in the year 2287, ten years after the events of Fallout 3. The story of Fallout 4 begins on the day the bombs dropped: October 23, 2077. The player character (voiced by Brian T. Delaney or Courtenay Taylor), nicknamed the Sole Survivor, takes shelter in Vault 111, emerging 210 years later after undergoing suspended animation. The Sole Survivor sets out to find his son who has been kidnapped at the Vault.
Fallout 76 (2018)
Fallout 76 is the franchise’s first online multiplayer game. It is set in West Virginia, with most of the monsters and enemies based on regional folklore. When Bethesda originally released the game, there were no human non-player characters on the maps, although with the “Wastelanders” update, the apocalypse simulator received NPCs and character dialogue. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 14, 2018.
Future plans
Bethesda Game Studios is also developing Fallout 5, but the wait will be long as the publisher intends to release the game after the release of The Elder Scrolls 6 (which will be released after Starfield in 2023).
25 years, one month of celebration!
According to Bethesda’s official website: “This month is going to be a bombshell for Fallout fans, and this time you won’t need a Vault to hide in. We look forward to seeing you emerging during our 25th Anniversary celebration!” “Every week in October, you can visit Fallout25 to see what we have planned for that week’s festivities,” the site continued. “From promotions and giveaways to special features and community content, there will be plenty to check out to celebrate Fallout’s 25th Anniversary!”
There are things planned by the company most weeks this month, so here’s the schedule of events happening so far:
Event schedule and timeline so far
October 4th
Fallout 76 freeplay week happened from October 4 to October 11 Fallout franchise on sale to celebrate its 25th anniversary Faction quiz – find your home in the Wasteland!
October 10th
Celebrate the game that started it all way back in 1997. Fallout 1 will be 25 years old! Short retrospective commemorating the 25 years of Fallout Spotify playlist commemorating the anniversary
October 11th
Fallout Shelter celebrates its 25th anniversary with new content, including new quests, NPCs and more.
October 18th
Vault-Tec creates a controller inspired on Fallout for the Design Lab
October 25th
The Spooky Scorched event comes back to the Appalachia until November 8.
Fallout Shelter update
Additionally, Fallout Shelter, the mobile game that launched at E3 2015 and has since released on all other platforms, will finally have new content, the first update in over four years. Yes, it’s been more than four years since Bethesda free-updated the Fallout Shelter Nuclear Vault Simulator, released in 2015. Who else feels old? All the talk about the 25th anniversary must have spurred them on to action, because Shelter is finally getting a new update. This new update will bring an alien threat to Vault Overseers to deal with with new weapons, inhabitants and items to decorate your hideout.
Fallout 76 free week
Of course, that’s not all Bethesda has in store for Fallout’s 25th anniversary. Prime Gaming PC subscribers can get Fallout 76 for free this month and it will be in your account as long as your subscription is active. This allowed players to check out the entire game, including the newly released update returning to The Pitt from Fallout 3, at no cost. Be very careful because there are all sorts of dangers like Mothman, Snallygaster, the formidable Wendigo, Sheepsquatch, the Grafton Monster, Beast of Beckley, the Flatwoods Monster, and many other monstrosities just waiting to finish you off. There’s even a giant sloth, which is a little strange considering sloths have been extinct in North America since at least the early Pliocene period. However, there are a lot of creatures from urban legends in the game, so it’s possible to use our suspension of disbelief with sloths.
Fallout 1st for free on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
In addition, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers are getting a free month of Fallout 1st, the premium membership program that typically costs $12.99/mo. Along with the free week to play, anyone who subscribes to Game Pass can claim a free month of Fallout 1st membership through October 24th. This is Bethesda’s controversial Fallout 76 subscription service, which gives access to private servers, unlimited in-game storage, and an allowance of the game’s premium currency, Atoms. Fallout 1st offers a number of benefits to Fallout 76 players, such as custom, private worlds, a survivable tent that can be placed in the open world, and a junk box for infinite storage of crafting components. Fallout 76’s free-to-play week includes the recent Expeditions update, taking players back to The Pitt setting, the post-nuclear Pittsburgh of Fallout 3.
Fallout 76 events
It wouldn’t be Fallout without some kind of weird personality test, so Bethesda created a new one. The “quest-ionary” (get it?) called the Post-Apocalyptic Loyalty Simulator, or P.A.L.S. In short, it’s pretty much the Atom Punk equivalent of Hogwarts’ Sorting Hat, sorting you into any of Fallout’s many factions via what your answers seem to indicate. If you are curious to find out what faction you would fit in nicely, you can take the test here. The audition chose us for the Atom Cats, with their poisoned crabs and their unbeatable Power Armors. Bethesda will also bring back the Invaders seasonal event that took place in 2021, tasking players with surviving an alien invasion and of course, giving the player various prizes. This event took place from the 4th to the 18th of October 2022. The publisher also revealed that Fallout 76 has reached a new milestone with over 13 million players, meaning it has increased its number by one million since June. The expansion including The Pitt, which launched last month, is likely to have added to the game’s appeal. Not bad for a title released in 2018 in the catastrophic state we know. At the end of the month, you can dress up as a pumpkin or some sort of skeletal monstrosity for the game’s Spooky Scorched event, which runs from October 25th to November 8th. Spooky Scorched is the Halloween event in Fallout 76 that will allow players to “trick or treat in Appalachia to unlock rewards”.
Fallout 25 years: and there’s more!
The Fallout Creation Club is holding a series of giveaways and promotions from October 4 to November 2, 2022. In addition, the Fallout25 website also offers a free Xbox Series X | S theme since October 4, 2022. For you, happy owners of this entertainment console, enjoy! The Bethesda Community Team also had an initial anniversary broadcast on the Twitch channel on October 7, 2022. That said, the community is very much looking forward to this broadcast, where the distributor will reveal more information about what the anniversary month has in store. If you are interested in trying any of the games in the Fallout franchise, there is currently a promotion for all of them, up to 75%. The promotion is in effect on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. We recommend Fallout New Vegas as a good starting point for games in the franchise and Fallout 76 for a fun experience with friends.
One month of celebration
As Bethesda recommends checking the calendar each week, the publisher is likely to announce more Fallout-related celebrations at a later date. And it’s good to enjoy it a whole lot, as Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard recently reiterated that Fallout 5 is behind Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 in the developer’s production queue. So we’ll have to wait quite a while until a new release.
What did you think about the celebrations?
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