Sorry Fallout Fans, Fallout 5 Still Sounds Very Far Away

The Fallout 5 release date is almost certainly very, very far away.

It doesn't sound like the success of the new Amazon Prime Fallout TV show is going to make Fallout 5 release any sooner. We know the current, primary focus of Bethesda Game Studios now that it has released Starfield is The Elder Scrolls 6. Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard recently reaffirmed this in a new interview. In the same interview, Howard was also asked about Fallout 5, and it doesn't sound promising for Fallout fans hoping the next mainline installment will release soon. 

Specifically, Howard was asked by IGN if interest in the show has changed any plans to move Fallout 5 forward in the pipeline, as it right now seems to be very far off as it won't begin production until The Elder Scrolls 6 releases, which is still years away itself. Howard tiptoes around the question a little bit, but what he does say doesn't indicate any major movement on the Fallout 5 plans. 

"I'm going to avoid putting dates on anything. I've learned that the hard way," said Howard speaking about Fallout 5 plans. "So obviously, our focus as far as new development right now is Elder Scrolls VI, but that doesn't mean that we're not making plans for other things. We're still doing a lot of work, obviously on Fallout 76, and we see the community, so many people going into that game and kind of rediscovering it and just so happy with where that game is at. It really does, and I mean, this has one of the best communities in all of gaming. Surprisingly, it's a very, very nice apocalypse, and we're doing a lot of Starfield work as well. So we have some really good updates that are going to get announced soon for that game. So, a lot going on here."

The tease of, "but that doesn't mean that we're not making plans for other things," is a potentially tasty tease for Fallout fans, but as you can see that seems to be in reference to everything Howard then lists after, which includes Fallout 76 and Starfield content. 

Of course, soon the Fallout resurgence will die down as the show's pop fades, but it would be a good to have a Fallout pop. Unfortunately for Bethesda, it is unlikely Fallout 5 will be ready by the time the show's second season releases, or the third if there ends up being one.