For years now, Fallout fans have been wondering when the next mainline sequel will arrive. Hype for the game most assume will be called Fallout 5 grew even larger last year after Amazon’s TV show made the post-apocalyptic franchise bigger than ever. And while Bethesda hasn’t formally announced Fallout 5, that hasn’t stopped the studio’s creative director, Todd Howard, from talking about it over the years.
Fallout 4 arrived on consoles and PC in 2015. Not long after its launch, people began wondering about Fallout 5. As a result, whenever Howard sits down for an interview, it’s not unusual for someone to ask him about Fallout 5 and the future of the franchise. Here’s nearly every time Howard has talked about Fallout 5, presented in chronological order. One thing to keep in mind before scrolling down is that Howard is very careful when talking about Fallout 5, so be prepared for comments that give you plenty to infer and speculate about, but little in the way of cold hard facts.
June 2018 – Fallout 5 will be a single-player video game
Technically, during a 2018 interview with German outlet GameStar, Howard didn’t say anything specific about a new Fallout game. However, when asked if all upcoming Bethesda games would feature multiplayer like Fallout 76, he replied that no, future games from the studio would still be single-player adventures.
November 2021 – Bethesda has a Fallout 5 “one-pager”
A few years later, during an interview with IGN, Howard spilled a bit more about the next Fallout sequel. He told the outlet that Bethesda has a “one-pager on Fallout 5, what we want to do,” but made it clear that the plan at the time was Starfield and then Elder Scrolls VI, seemingly confirming that Fallout 5 remained many, many years away.
June 2022 – Fallout 5 is next after The Elder Scrolls VI
The following year, in another interview with IGN, Howard said this about Bethesda’s future:
“Yes, Elder Scrolls 6 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. We have some other projects that we look at from time to time as well.”
June 2023 – Fallout 5 might not be Bethesda’s next game after Elder Scrolls 6
A year after saying Fallout 5 would be Bethesda’s next project after shipping Elder Scrolls VI, Howard backtracked a bit and clarified that he simply meant that Fallout 5 would arrive after The Elder Scrolls 6, not that he wanted to confirm it as the next game. This confusing backtrack worried fans who now wondered if Bethesda had a different project in the works that could further delay Fallout 5. In this same interview, he argued that long gaps between sequels, while annoying for fans, have rarely hurt a game’s success or quality.
March 2024 – Fallout TV showrunners were told to avoid certain details that will be in Fallout 5
After causing a ruckus online by claiming that the Fallout TV show was “basically Fallout 5,” showrunner Johnathan Nolan clarified that he just meant this is the next story in the universe and not a replacement for an upcoming game. In fact, the show is actively avoiding some parts of the franchise because it would cause problems for Fallout 5.
“Well, there were some things where I said, ‘Don’t do this because we are going to do that in Fallout 5,’” Howard told Den of Geek.
April 2024 – Todd Howard dodges a question about Fallout 5‘s release after The Elder Scrolls VI
When talking to IGN, Howard was yet again asked about Fallout 5 launching after The Elder Scrolls 6. This time, he straight-up dodged the question, but did confirm that Bethesda is working on different projects. “I’m going to avoid putting dates on anything, I’ve learned that the hard way,” said Howard. “So, obviously, you know, our focus as far as new development right now is Elder Scrolls 6, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not making plans for other things.”
June 2024 – Bethesda is not in a rush to release a new Fallout game
During a 2024 interview with YouTuber MrMattyPlays, Howard said that Bethesda didn’t feel the need to “rush out” a new Fallout sequel or spin-off, though he also acknowledged that the wait between Fallout 4 and Fallout 5 is growing longer and longer.
“Totally get the desire for a new kind of mainline single-player game. And look, those things take time. I don’t think it’s bad for people to miss things. We just want to get it right and make sure that everything we’re doing in a franchise, whether it’s Elder Scrolls, Fallout, or now Starfield, that those become meaningful moments for everybody who loved these franchises as much as we do.”
October 2025 – Howard ends Fallout Day stream with a promise that more is being worked on
To celebrate Fallout Day, the day the bombs fell in-universe and destroyed the Earth, Bethesda held a digital showcase to announce a Fallout 4 update, reveal some Fallout 76 news, and not much else. Seemingly aware that this presentation would be disappointing to fans longing for Fallout 5, Howard appeared at the end to offer some hope, telling fans that the studio is “working on even more” and that Bethesda is “looking forward to the day” when all is revealed.
December 2025 – Howard confirms Fallout 5 won’t ignore the TV show
In an interview with the BBC, Howard was asked if the events of the Fallout show are being considered by the devs while making Fallout 5. Would the show and the game really exist in one world?
“In short, yes,” Howard told the outlet. “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.”
December 2025 – Bethesda is still working hard on more Fallout
Speaking to Game Informer, Howard made it clear that Fallout is a very important franchise for Bethesda and that it has been working on projects related to the post-apocalyptic world for a long time.
“I will say, first, looking at 76, we’ve never stopped developing Fallout. We’ve had a full team on Fallout for a long time. So Fallout, as a franchise, is the one we’re still doing the most work in above anything. Now, the majority of our internal studio is on Elder Scrolls VI. We are doing other things with Fallout that we haven’t announced, and you know, there’ll come a time for that. I get the sort of anxiety from fans, like, ‘Well, what else? What else? Feed me!’ But, look, we’re working on stuff, and we do like to wait. And so, I think there’ll be a moment to talk about that, and we want to make those special moments for our fans.”