Beware spoilers for Amazon Prime Video's Fallout series.
While I’m happy for The Elder Scrolls fans who were treated to Oblivion Remastered earlier this year, surely I’m not alone in thinking that the Fallout franchise could also benefit from a new release right now, considering that the most recent mainline Fallout game is Fallout 76, which will be turning seven years old this year. Realistically, the most likely options for a ‘new’ Fallout game in 2025, ahead of Fallout 5’s distant release, would be a remake or remaster.
However, there’s a fourth alternative that Bethesda could and should explore, since it could fill this void in the Fallout franchise, all the same. It would mean breaking a big promise made by Fallout 76’s developers, but it would arguably be the perfect Christmas present for Fallout fans like me if the next big Fallout 76 update coming at the end of this year explores a direct tie-in with the upcoming season two of the Fallout show that’s set to release around the same time, which both have the convenient opportunity to pay Fallout: New Vegas’ iconic wasteland a visit.
Fallout 5 and New Vegas 2 Don't Have to Be Mutually Exclusive
Bethesda has yet to reveal the setting of the next Fallout, but if theories are true, it could pave the way for a New Vegas return.
Why Fallout 76 Should Break Its Promise Regarding the Fallout Show
Born in 1999, I grew up watching my older brother and cousins play Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, so I consider myself a ‘Fallout: New Vegas baby.’ By the time I was old enough to pick up my first RPG and seriously commit to it, it had to be Fallout: New Vegas. Naturally, I’m still madly in love with the modern Fallout games, and despite Fallout 76’s troubled launch, this has been my favorite game ever since I started playing it in 2021.
Fallout: New Vegas Deserves More Than a Cameo in 2025
I’m also a huge fan of the Fallout show, but the dozen-or-so hours I’ll spend watching season two of the Fallout show when it comes out this December are nothing compared to the hundreds of hours I could easily spend playing the games. So, while I’m stoked that season two of the Fallout show will be visiting the setting of Fallout: New Vegas, this shouldn’t be the only homage that Fallout: New Vegas gets this year, especially in place of a proper sequel.
Not long after the first season of the Fallout show debuted, Fallout 76’s creative director, Jon Rush, made a broad promise at Quakecon 2024 that Fallout 76 isn’t going to directly tie into the Fallout show. Given the golden opportunity Fallout 76 has to collaborate with both the Fallout show’s upcoming second season and Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 76 should strongly consider breaking this promise, now more than ever.
Fallout 76 Could Be the ‘New Vegas 2’ That Never Happened
With Fallout 76’s Vertibird Expeditions, the journey from Appalachia to the New Vegas Strip would be conveniently possible for the big update coming to Fallout 76 in December 2025, which was recently teased at the Summer Games Fest showcase to visit Fallout: New Vegas’ Wasteland. Given each game’s placement in the timeline, it would have to be an earlier version of the New Vegas Wasteland, but Fallout 76 could still pay respects to Fallout: New Vegas with this upcoming update.
If I had the chance, I’d no-life a Fallout: New Vegas remaster in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, while it seems like a proper sequel or remaster isn’t happening soon, the Fallout show and Fallout 76 arguably have the perfect opportunity to give Fallout: New Vegas the respect that it’s due with both a spiritual prequel and sequel, nonetheless. And since the Fallout show’s season two has already confirmed a visit to the New Vegas Wasteland, Fallout 76 should arguably follow suit, giving me and other Fallout: New Vegas fans the perfect Christmas gift, also using this opportunity to be more closely involved with the award-winning show.
Fallout 76
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OpenCritic Reviews
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