July 13, 2004 - In a press release yesterday, Bethsoft pleasantly surprised many RPG fans by announcing it had acquired the rights to single-player portion of the Fallout property. Already the developer and publisher of the acclaimed The Elder Scrolls series, the company stated it will develop Fallout 3 under the supervision of accomplished developer Todd Howard, who will also oversee the follow-up to Morrowind.
Fallout 3 is obviously still in a very early stage of pre-production, which means there won't be much in the way of specific details available for some time. However, we did ask Pete Hines if he could tell us how the deal came about, and also why Bethsoft was interested in the franchise given that the first two RPGs are thought to have achieved relatively moderate sales:
Fallout is something we've talked about internally for a long time. I'm pretty sure we made the initial approach. I don't remember when. I believe it was something we talked about with our president, Vlatko, at one point, who probably made the initial contact. Again, it's something that has been brought up internally, every now and then, for a long time.
We're big fans of the Fallout franchise and think it's a good fit for our skills and what we do well. Simply put, we think we can make a great Fallout 3 that lots and lots of people will want to buy.
Many gamers have already remarked on the potential fit between Bethsoft's open-ended style of RPG and that of the two Fallout RPGs. Our interest has definitely been aroused, and we've settled in to watch for any news and information that emerges.
