How Atomfall Differs From Other Post-Apocalyptic Games

One of the more exciting releases for the first quarter of 2025 is Rebellion's Atomfall: an alternate-history action survival game set in the wake of the Windscale incident of 1957, one of history's most devastating nuclear disasters. Historical games are nothing new for Rebellion, who are primarily known for its long-running Sniper Elite series, but Atomfall presented the team with a different challenge. Namely, this was creating a post-apocalyptic game that still maintains the picturesque beauty of northern England (among other things). As a result, Atomfall is a game that looks a lot different from what most players would expect when they hear that it's set after an apocalyptic incident.

Atomfall Windscale Disaster Real History Explained

Atomfall: What Exactly Happened During the Real Windscale Disaster?

Atomfall is based on a harrowing real life incident that occurred in England, and fans may want to know more about the history behind it.

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By J. Scott Thurlow

Atomfall's Setting Sets It Apart From Well-Tread Post-Apocalyptic Territory

The closest touchpoint for Atomfall is arguably Bethesda's Fallout games, but a side-by-side comparison of the two immediately highlights the biggest difference between them — their settings. While the world of Fallout is one in which nuclear warfare has decimated the surface of the planet (and left a dystopian pulp sci-fi landscape in its wake), Atomfall's world is one in which the inhabitants of one specific area have been quarantined off from the rest of the world. The Cumbria region of northern England houses plenty of topographical variety, and it remains lush and vibrant even after Atomfall's alternate history outcome of the Windscale incident.

Speaking with The Best War Games about Atomfall's core elements and mechanics, Fisher notes that the team "used the real-world location as inspiration for a kind of 'theme park' version of Cumbria that exaggerates the iconic details of rural Northern England", which allowed the team to get creative with its environmental design. Fisher elaborates, noting that "...the post-apocalyptic genre tends to lean into grey, urban areas that have been abandoned. Instead, Atomfall takes us to a rural setting that has largely been untouched and so remains lush and green."

The Real-World History of the Windscale Fire Grounds Atomfall

In addition to the visual spectacle afforded by Atomfall's atypical setting, the game's grounding in real-world events gives it an unsettling plausibility that many other post-apocalyptic games lack. Many other games set in a fictional post-apocalypse — one caused by nuclear war, robot uprising, or perhaps a zombie plague — lack any sort of real-world historical connection for their settings and plot, instead leaning heavily into popular themes and motifs. Atomfall treads new territory by telling an alternate history tale that connects real-world events to an alternate timeline in which the afflicted parties were not so fortunate.

Speaking about the choice to ground Atomfall in the history of the United Kingdom, Fisher points out that Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley felt it was a great opportunity for the studio. He notes:

Jason...noticed that there are many “nuclear quarantine” games...but none based around the world's first major nuclear disaster, the Windscale incident. Rebellion is usually attracted to broad, pulpy themes with a British slant to them, so it seemed like a starting point with a lot of potential... The Windscale Incident serves as a moment for us to jump away from history and, in a sense, explore a ‘what if’ timeline influenced by ‘50s sci-fi and British folklore.

Instead of imagining a future apocalypse, Atomfall stands out by imagining the apocalypse that might have been, tapping into the post-war paranoia and uncertainty that were central to British society at the time.