Interplay’s Fallout MMO is Officially Dead

thank god, just imagine the 1 year of development they spend on the game and then the 10 years they spend actually making it work while fucking it up with each update within the 10 year wingspan

@Cronus42 said:

@MordeaniisChaos: as cool as a Bethesda Fallout MMO might be, odds are they would take The Elder Scrolls and turn that into an MMO before Fallout i think.

Maybe, but I think they'd be smart enough to know not to go with essentially dark WoW. The MMO landscape looks pretty flat these days, not a lot of standout titles. Plus I feel like ES would be better as a coop sorta game with 4 player coop with your persistent characters, where as Fallout might be good in an MMO with a bunch of strangers in a huge world.

doubt it woulda been any good anyway. Red Dead Redemption style multiplayer would be nice for Fallout 4 though.

@JohnPaulVann said:

@gladspooky: @gladspooky said:

Can't say I didn't expect this to happen like two years ago.

Then why the fuck didn't you do something about it?????? Interplay's Fallout would have revolutionized the industry. Now we're stuck with Bethsda's horsehit.

Because Interplay hasn't just been a pathetic shell of a company for about the past decade or so...? No. What we remember Interplay fondly for (that basically being Black Isle studios) is now Obsidian, and look how that has turned out. I could probably go into more detail, explaining how a Bulgarian developer that doesn't have a game to its name would probably screw up whatever pipe dream of a MMO was actually being developed, or how we should be glad that the Fallout IP still exists, but I have a feeling you are beyond that.

@Catfish666 said:

Hell, they were the ones who laid off the staff of Black Isle Studios 2003, whom majority of became Obsidian and developed Fallout New Vegas.

This is a key point that a lot of people either don't realize or conveniently ignore. Interplay didn't make Fallout, Black Isle Studios did, and those people don't work for Interplay anymore. A Fallout MMO made by the original Fallout team may have been good. A Fallout MMO by the current Interplay never had a chance.

Whether you love or hate Bethesda, don't delude yourself into thinking Interplay was actually going to make anything even resembling the quality of the original Fallout games.

Bought the rights to Fallout, but not quite all of them? I can't help but think that's extremely bizarre. Two entirely separate companies developing games for the same exact franchise. How does that work in any logical way.

@ArbitraryWater said:

@JohnPaulVann said:

@gladspooky: @gladspooky said:

Can't say I didn't expect this to happen like two years ago.

Then why the fuck didn't you do something about it?????? Interplay's Fallout would have revolutionized the industry. Now we're stuck with Bethsda's horsehit.

Because Interplay hasn't just been a pathetic shell of a company for about the past decade or so...? No. What we remember Interplay fondly for (that basically being Black Isle studios) is now Obsidian, and look how that has turned out.

oh, you mean fantastically?

@Draxyle said:

Bought the rights to Fallout, but not quite all of them? I can't help but think that's extremely bizarre. Two entirely separate companies developing games for the same exact franchise. How does that work in any logical way.

It doesn't, Fallout MMO was basically a hostage to squeeze money out of Bethesda from.

Interplay spent the past decade spiralling further into monetary problems, to the point that they had basically lost all capable developer houses they once had and only value was in the licenses still tied to the name. In 2007 when they sold most of the Fallout licenses to Bethesda, they were at the crossroads and had to decide what they wanted to do with the sole remaining Fallout MMO license they had. Given Bethesda was just in a uplift resulting from the sales of Oblivion, I'm betting Interplay suits decided it was less of an hassle to play foul and milk money from them via the license shenanigans (rather than try to make an actual game). Paid off for them, 2 million to be exact.

edit 1: Seems like iAmJohn's post just below mine presents the whole story more factual and thoroughly.

@Draxyle said:

Bought the rights to Fallout, but not quite all of them? I can't help but think that's extremely bizarre. Two entirely separate companies developing games for the same exact franchise. How does that work in any logical way.

It stems from the original agreement Bethesda and Interplay had. Bethesda originally licensed the Fallout name from Interplay to produce and publish Fallout 3 with option to purchase the franchise outright, the stipulation being that it would not interfere with the Fallout MMO that Interplay was planning on making. They ended up making good on that and purchasing the Fallout IP before F3 was released, but that stipulation that Interplay was allowed to make a Fallout MMO remained.

However, and this is where the legal battle comes into play, the Fallout MMO rights were to revert back to Bethesda if Interplay was not able to meet certain milestones laid out in an agreement with Bethesda. Not only were those milestones not met, Interplay also started selling the "Fallout Trilogy" pack after Fallout 3's release, which got shut down by the courts for being misleading and implying that it would include Fallout 3, when it unsurprisingly didn't. And then Interplay, upon getting sued by Bethesda, counter-sued to have the ownership of the entire Fallout IP returned to Interplay based on unsubstantiated charges of Bethesda "meddling" with the development.

It's not to say that Bethesda has their hands clean--they were clearly aiming for Interplay's MMO to fail so they could have complete ownership of the rights--but Interplay is clearly in the wrong here. They tried to have it both ways (getting money from someone else for their properties so they could go and make another game based on said property and potentially ride on the popularity of the licensor's game) in a really shady, fucked up way that's not only completely obvious, it's indicative of the kind of shady shit that governs Interplay.

@Animasta said:

@ArbitraryWater said:

@JohnPaulVann said:

@gladspooky: @gladspooky said:

Can't say I didn't expect this to happen like two years ago.

Then why the fuck didn't you do something about it?????? Interplay's Fallout would have revolutionized the industry. Now we're stuck with Bethsda's horsehit.

Because Interplay hasn't just been a pathetic shell of a company for about the past decade or so...? No. What we remember Interplay fondly for (that basically being Black Isle studios) is now Obsidian, and look how that has turned out.

oh, you mean fantastically?

Mixed, more good than bad. We have our disagreements on AP, obviously, but I like NWN 2 and I really like New Vegas. KotOR 2 can still die in a fire though.

@ArbitraryWater said:

@Animasta said:

@ArbitraryWater said:

@JohnPaulVann said:

@gladspooky: @gladspooky said:

Can't say I didn't expect this to happen like two years ago.

Then why the fuck didn't you do something about it?????? Interplay's Fallout would have revolutionized the industry. Now we're stuck with Bethsda's horsehit.

Because Interplay hasn't just been a pathetic shell of a company for about the past decade or so...? No. What we remember Interplay fondly for (that basically being Black Isle studios) is now Obsidian, and look how that has turned out.

oh, you mean fantastically?

Mixed, more good than bad. We have our disagreements on AP, obviously, but I like NWN 2 and I really like New Vegas. KotOR 2 can still die in a fire though.

Kotor 2 would've been great if it wasn't busted and had a real ending. Or, to put it another way, if Lucasarts didn't force them to make the game in a year. :\

Also, @JohnPaulVann, please go back to NMA.

@JohnPaulVann said:

Interplay's Fallout would have been awesome. Fuck Bethesda, Fuck GB, and Fuck anybody who buys their shit.

Okay, well see ya. Next time maybe it'd be best to act like an adult.

@Doctorchimp: This. This is the only comment that should be allowed.

Why can't MMO's in general be officially dead?

Not that it would have ended up being any good anyway, considering what interplay has been reduced to.

@iAmJohn said:

@TentPole

@nERVEcenter said:

@TentPole: Yeah, fuck da big corporate cronies, dey da problem wit everyting in da world, stick it to da man.

Nope, just ones that abuse the legal system to try and bully smaller companies.

Oh bullshit. Interplay is run by a bunch of scammers who had it coming. The contract stated that Interplay would lose the rights of they didn't hit certain milestones at specified times and they didn't, and then they had the audacity to counter-sue to try and get back the rights of the entire Fallout property that they sold to Bethesda in the first place. And that doesn't even begin to touch on that shady "Fallout Trilogy" box set they were selling, where, lest we forget, they got in trouble for intentionally misleading customers in implying that you'd get Fallout 3 in the package. Fuck them, they're snake oil salesmen who deserve fuck all sympathy.

Oh dear God, how am I suppose to find out which games it comes with?

And then there is Scrolls.

And then there is this:

http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25791

http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25793

http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25841

I'm stoked about the cancellation. It sounds disingenuous to the nature of Fallout to have a massively populated Fallout.

I'd rather see a decent idea like this get made, rather than not have the option to see how it would have turned out. I don't understand the logic behind the "sighs of relief". If you didn't care to be interested at some point, why say anything?

@iAmJohn said:

@ArbitraryWater said:

@Animasta said:

@ArbitraryWater said:

@JohnPaulVann said:

@gladspooky: @gladspooky said:

Can't say I didn't expect this to happen like two years ago.

Then why the fuck didn't you do something about it?????? Interplay's Fallout would have revolutionized the industry. Now we're stuck with Bethsda's horsehit.

Because Interplay hasn't just been a pathetic shell of a company for about the past decade or so...? No. What we remember Interplay fondly for (that basically being Black Isle studios) is now Obsidian, and look how that has turned out.

oh, you mean fantastically?

Mixed, more good than bad. We have our disagreements on AP, obviously, but I like NWN 2 and I really like New Vegas. KotOR 2 can still die in a fire though.

Kotor 2 would've been great if it wasn't busted and had a real ending. Or, to put it another way, if Lucasarts didn't force them to make the game in a year.

I totally played and wrote about that game with the cut content patch last year, and honestly I still was underwhelmed. The modders did the best they could, considering most of what they had to work on was a lot of unused voice samples and unfinished scripting. I just find the tone of that game so wildly out of sync with what I liked about the first game and Star Wars in general, which when combined with a roster of supporting characters decidedly mixed in quality and a story that never really gets off the ground, I still don't like it. That's not to say there aren't aspects that I enjoy. Some of the side characters are pretty great, being an evil dick is still all kinds of hilarious, and I do appreciate the whole "deconstruction of what Star Wars actually is" aspect, even if I find Kreia's cryptic mutterings more than a little obnoxious.

@TentPole: Funny how the fact that Bethesda got the injunction granted against Interplay to force them to stop selling Fallout Trilogy is pretty much proof that it was shady bullshit. Bitch and moan about people being ignorant all you want, this isn't like Scrolls which was obviously stupid and has been shut the fuck down for being a frivolous suit. And frankly, you can post all the D&C, NMA or whatever threads you want. It doesn't change the fact that none of the smoking gun evidence they've clamored about has ever been indicative of foul play on Bethesda's part (the only thing slightly questionable is the "don't use anything Fallout for your Fallout MMO" part, but hey, if Interplay signed it and that's exactly what it said, their own fault for not reading the damn thing they signed). And oh yeah, I'm sure those petty children who won't stop living in the past and are furious that Bethesda had the audacity to not just release Van Buren and made a "shitty Oblivion mod" instead (their words, not mine) are bound to give Bethesda a fair shake and not just root for their demise, even in the absence of Interplay actually having anything to show for the "MMO" that was in "development" for "years."

@iAmJohn: Here just give me a second to get my serious hat on . . .

Alright.

Don't get me wrong. Bethseda makes better games than Interplay has any chance of at this point and this is a great development for gamers that will result in a better MMO if nothing else. I just think Bethesda's legal team is out of their fucking minds and needs to chill the fuck out. And some of that stuff they pulled in the Interplay lawsuit is just wrong. Preventing the lawyer from observing sacred holidays and claiming they can't use any actual Fallout content, which was not stated in the contract and subsequently got knocked down in court.

Good riddance. We don't need more MMOs.

Interplay is a ghost town making facebook games or some shit, and for all their ability to make Elder Scrolls games, I don't think Bethesda is the right fit for Fallout. They can make a hell of a dungeon, and a giant open world to roam around... but Fallout is about building your character and seeing different stuff because of it, it's about branching paths based on your skills, quests that take off in unexpected directions... and that's not really a Bethesda thing. Bethesda are about twisty caves and big monsters. Obsidian are about clever solutions to problems and extremely good writing.

I think if Bethesda really wanted to do what's best for Fallout, they would stick to making Elder Scrolls games and essentially hire Obsidian full time to make Fallout. Give Obsidian the new Skyrim engine, whatever. But Fallout 3 is a complete aberration if you compare it to the style of 2 and New Vegas.

Being dead means it's ready to be cooked.

I rather have Bethesda in control of the Fallout franchise I loved FO3 and FNV was pretty good too bugs aside but the people who made the original fallouts have not been in or anywhere near Interplay for years, I trust bethesda as a developer and cant wait till FO4 with the skyrim engine

@JohnPaulVann said:

Interplay's Fallout would have been awesome. Fuck Bethesda, Fuck GB, and Fuck anybody who buys their shit.

Wow, you're an idiot.

Game never would have come out anyway

@JohnPaulVann: Fuck you to buddy!

@ArbitraryWater said:

@Animasta said:

@ArbitraryWater said:

@JohnPaulVann said:

@gladspooky: @gladspooky said:

Can't say I didn't expect this to happen like two years ago.

Then why the fuck didn't you do something about it?????? Interplay's Fallout would have revolutionized the industry. Now we're stuck with Bethsda's horsehit.

Because Interplay hasn't just been a pathetic shell of a company for about the past decade or so...? No. What we remember Interplay fondly for (that basically being Black Isle studios) is now Obsidian, and look how that has turned out.

oh, you mean fantastically?

Mixed, more good than bad. We have our disagreements on AP, obviously, but I like NWN 2 and I really like New Vegas. KotOR 2 can still die in a fire though.

Dungeon Siege 3 can get fucked, too.

@wrathofconn said:

@ArbitraryWater said:

@Animasta said:

@ArbitraryWater said:

@JohnPaulVann said:

@gladspooky: @gladspooky said:

Can't say I didn't expect this to happen like two years ago.

Then why the fuck didn't you do something about it?????? Interplay's Fallout would have revolutionized the industry. Now we're stuck with Bethsda's horsehit.

Because Interplay hasn't just been a pathetic shell of a company for about the past decade or so...? No. What we remember Interplay fondly for (that basically being Black Isle studios) is now Obsidian, and look how that has turned out.

oh, you mean fantastically?

Mixed, more good than bad. We have our disagreements on AP, obviously, but I like NWN 2 and I really like New Vegas. KotOR 2 can still die in a fire though.

Dungeon Siege 3 can get fucked, too.

I think it's telling that I kinda forgot that they made that game.

At least Interplay gets something.  They gave me a ton of great games as a kid and hope their able to make some games in the future .

Buy Fallout 1 and 2 on GoG while you still can

All I can say is lol.

Well maybe someday

Not sure what to think of a Fallout MMO...

Website is already down.

Not surprising. Highly doubt Interplay's MMO would have amounted to much. Or have even come out at all. And like someone else said, Interplay is unrecognizable compared to the company that put out the original two Fallouts.

Hopefully now Interplay can get out of a muddy idea & go about making something new without being tied up in legal issues. After playing through some of the Fallen Earth mmorpg, can't quite understand how much the Fallout mmorpg would have been that much different.

@JohnPaulVann said:

@gladspooky: @gladspooky said:

Can't say I didn't expect this to happen like two years ago.

Then why the fuck didn't you do something about it?????? Interplay's Fallout would have revolutionized the industry. Now we're stuck with Bethsda's horsehit.

What makes you say this? Interplay is in no way, shape, or form the same beloved company they once were. They're a shell of their former self at best.

@Arrested_Developer: Don't let the rose-tinted glasses fool you too much, Interplay was only the publisher, all the decent developers have moved on by now. The odds for the money they got finding its way to development of other than re-releases of the hits of day before yesterday are very low, just check from their wikipedia page what they've been releasing of late. That company is a shadow of its former self and involved in somewhat questionable business tactics while at it.

I'll admit that Bethesda's law department can be rather overzealous at times, but that's expected of a company that active. Even if they're not pleasing everyone, they've treated Fallout franchise with respect and have certainly done something with it, which is more than can be said of Interplay.

@jakob187 said:

THANK. FUCKING. GOD.

The idea of a Fallout MMO was fucking HORRENDOUS! The point of Fallout is that it's a desolate post-apocalyptic world. Why the FUCK would I want my desolation to be populated like that of an MMO? It makes zero goddamn sense.

The death of this MMO is something I can celebrate greatly.

This kind of hits the nail on the head. I don't want bunny hopping brotherhood knights crowding up things while I try to collect mutant heads for an inane MMO quest-that doesn't feel like fallout. You could probably do a Dead Island/Borderlands style single player/co-op game and have it feel more natural.

Whatever. True Fallout has been dead since the 90's. All this imitation stuff is doomed as far as I'm concerned.

This isn't a surprise. Interplay haven't been able to make anything since.... well... the late 90's. Their recent, ahem, track record shows them just putting ports on Wiiware and porting flash games. I knew there wouldn't be a Fallout MMO - how could there be? Interplay's income is virtually nil (aside from the 2 million they just got), and the company is a broken shell of its former self. It hasn't been able to make anything in years.

I know Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas aren't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I love Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. But what was the harm in selling the Fallout IP to Bethesda? No one else was willing to pony up the required cash to buy it and Interplay sure as hell wouldn't have done anything with it! Fallout was dead, done and dusted. The original creators of Fallout and Fallout 2 left Interplay years and years and years ago and no one except Bethesda expressed much of an interest in resurrecting the series.

It's a bit much to blame Bethesda for Interplay's woes - but the truth is, Interplay killed itself and the company is a walking shell, a zombie if you will, devoid of any talent or potential. The Interplay you knew is dead and will never come back because all the people who made Interplay what it was in its heyday are GONE.

Noooooooooooo! I better still get my fallout mmo some way or another dammit!

This saddens me a bit. Reguardless if I know that the original hearts and souls that worked on the beloved Fallout and Fallout 2 have been nowhere near Interplay for years, there's something to the brand that was/is Interplay that I will miss greatly and I only hope that they realize this and sift their efforts into rebuilding themselves from the ground-up.

@Korolev said:

I know Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas aren't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I love Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. But what was the harm in selling the Fallout IP to Bethesda? No one else was willing to pony up the required cash to buy it and Interplay sure as hell wouldn't have done anything with it! Fallout was dead, done and dusted. The original creators of Fallout and Fallout 2 left Interplay years and years and years ago and no one except Bethesda expressed much of an interest in resurrecting the series.

It's a bit much to blame Bethesda for Interplay's woes - but the truth is, Interplay killed itself and the company is a walking shell, a zombie if you will, devoid of any talent or potential. The Interplay you knew is dead and will never come back because all the people who made Interplay what it was in its heyday are GONE.

Very well said. I totally get that some people simply aren't interested in the current direction of the Fallout series, but the IP was dead as dead can be before Bethesda picked it up. Even though the first two games are among my all-time favourites, I'm more than happy with where the series is at the moment. Can't wait for the next game.

And like you said, Interplay's destruction happened years and years ago and had nothing to do with Bethesda.

There is always Fallen Earth to play. Interplay is dead. Bethesda will either make an MMO or leave that dead horse to rot for a while.

@Tamaster92 said:

Noooooooooooo! I better still get my fallout mmo some way or another dammit!

If that Fallout mmo would have bin a pile of crap woundt you rather wait longer? Theres nothing left in that studio but the name.