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\u2019s TV show made the post-apocalyptic franchise bigger than ever. And while Bethesda hasn\u2019t formally announced Fallout 5, that hasn\u2019t stopped the studio\u2019s creative director, Todd Howard, from talking about it over the years.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s not unusual for someone to ask him about Fallout 5 and the future of the franchise. Here\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
June 2018 \u2013 Fallout 5 will be a single-player video game <\/p>\n
Technically, during a 2018 interview with German outlet GameStar,<\/a> Howard didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n November 2021 \u2013 Bethesda has a Fallout 5 \u201cone-pager\u201d <\/p>\n A few years later, during an interview with IGN<\/a>, Howard spilled a bit more about the next Fallout sequel. He told the outlet that Bethesda has a \u201cone-pager on Fallout 5, what we want to do,\u201d but made it clear that the plan at the time was Starfield and then Elder Scrolls VI, seemingly confirming that\u00a0Fallout 5 remained many, many years away.<\/p>\n June 2022 \u2013 Fallout 5 is next after The Elder Scrolls VI <\/p>\n The following year, in another interview with IGN<\/a>, Howard said this about Bethesda\u2019s future:<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Elder Scrolls 6 is in pre-production and, you know, we\u2019re going to be doing Fallout 5 after that, so our slate\u2019s pretty full going forward for a while. We have some other projects that we look at from time to time as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n June 2023 \u2013 Fallout 5 might not be Bethesda\u2019s next game after Elder Scrolls 6 <\/p>\n A year after saying Fallout 5 would be Bethesda\u2019s next project after shipping Elder Scrolls VI, Howard backtracked a bit<\/a> 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\u2019s success or quality.<\/p>\n March 2024 \u2013 Fallout TV showrunners were told to avoid certain details that will be in Fallout 5 <\/p>\n After causing a ruckus online by claiming that the Fallout TV show was \u201cbasically Fallout 5,\u201d 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.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWell, there\u00a0were\u00a0some things where I said, \u2018Don\u2019t do this because we are going to do that in\u00a0Fallout 5,\u2019\u201d Howard told Den of Geek<\/a>.<\/p>\n April 2024 \u2013 Todd Howard dodges a question about Fallout 5\u2018s release after The Elder Scrolls VI <\/p>\n 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<\/a>, but did confirm that Bethesda is working on different projects. \u201cI\u2019m going to avoid putting dates on anything, I\u2019ve learned that the hard way,\u201d said Howard. \u201cSo, obviously, you know, our focus as far as new development right now is Elder Scrolls 6, but that doesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019re not making plans for other things.\u201d<\/p>\n June 2024 \u2013 Bethesda is not in a rush to release a new Fallout game <\/p>\n During a 2024 interview with YouTuber MrMattyPlays,<\/a> Howard said that Bethesda didn\u2019t feel the need to \u201crush out\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u201cTotally get the desire for a new kind of mainline single-player game. And look, those things take time. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s bad for people to miss things. We just want to get it right and make sure that everything we\u2019re doing in a franchise, whether it\u2019s Elder Scrolls,\u00a0Fallout, or now\u00a0Starfield, that those become meaningful moments for everybody who loved these franchises as much as we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n October 2025 \u2013 Howard ends Fallout Day stream with a promise that more is being worked on <\/p>\n 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<\/a> to offer some hope, telling fans that the studio is \u201cworking on even more\u201d and that Bethesda is \u201clooking forward to the day\u201d when all is revealed.<\/p>\n December 2025 \u2013 Howard confirms Fallout 5 won\u2019t ignore the TV show <\/p>\n\n
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