I know a most people will agree that more development time is great for a game but seriously, does this game even exist at this point? It seems like Bethesda has always been there to shoot down any rumblings about the game and to this day there hasn't been an official confirmation that the game exists. Right now all we have is that document leak that happened recently that apparently confirmed the game's setting but Bethesda didn't even comment on that. Their decline to comment might have been an unofficial confirmation since whenever any "leaks" occurred they were quickly shot down by Bethesda but still it's getting ridiculous. I know they like to spend time on their games but it's been over three years since Skyrim came out and they haven't said what their next project is at all. What's going on over there?!

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: Yes it's in development. Games take a long time. They probably only going to make it for the next gen consoles and PC and might be working on a new engine for it instead of just slapping it into the same one they've been using for a long time now. Engines take time to develop.

They are working on something, if not Fallout then what?

I think it's highly likely Fallout 4 is their next game, and I for one appreciate that they take so long to work on their games. Every time Bethesda puts out a new game it's an event, whereas it's incredibly difficult to get excited for yet another Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed every year. Furthermore, Bethesda games are more than worth the wait considering their amazing attention to detail, incredible scale, and huge amount of things to do.

I think the fact that it will wind up being 4+ years of development for Fallout 4 is a great sign, one that likely means they're taking great care with the generation jump and also hopefully producing a game closer to the size of Oblivion and Skyrim as opposed to Fallout 3, which while bigger than 95% of non-Bethesda games was noticeably scaled down compared to their Elder Scrolls games.

Hell, maybe they're finally going to a completely new engine with animations and scripting that aren't total ass.

I can only hope that they're seeing how people are getting tired of buggy games and will make an extra effort to not release a half broken product. Unity is a flawless diamond compared to what Skyrim was on the PS3 - and in large parts remains to this day with basically no apology.

@ll_exile_ll: Maybe they'll even hire more than 5 voice actors and have the generic NPCs have more than 10 lines of shared dialogue!

I hope they say something about it soon. With the sudden flood of copy & paste Ubisoft open world games over the last couple years, I really want a new Bethesda one, even if I'd rather TES VI.

also holy shit skyrim came out 3 years ago

@jesus_phish: Skyrim had like 70 voice actors.

I'm gonna say almost definitely yes.

It better be!

Maybe we'll be able to climb a ladder this time.

Is it in development? Almost certainly. When they've talked about getting the right to do Fallout they said it's something they want to make more of. That franchise has tons of fans and a whole bunch of people on the edge of their seats waiting for news about the next instalment. For a company that can appear as corporate as Bethesda do sometimes, it would be crazy to think they would leave all of that for a new IP open world rather than the goldmine in Fallout. So yep, it's happening.

Why the delay? Who knows. I expected it to be out this holiday. I imagine the transition to new hardware has played a part in it, but they would have started working with this before Skyrim was shipped so they would have seen it coming. Maybe they were aiming for split-gen then later on decided against it? After the insane success of Skyrim I'm sure they could ask for as much time as they wanted for this.

Anyway, it's The Game Awards tonight and people are expecting an announcement! Keighley better pony up.

If Fallout 4 supports Windows Borderless, I would be so happy.

When you look at how many games now are busted right out of the gate, I'm starting to respect the "Not until it's ready" approach to game development. And when you think about it, Fallout/Elder Scrolls games have the greatest potential to be a fucking shit show when it comes to bugs/jank. They need to get that shit right.

What I dont appreciate however, is all of the hoaxes that have come out for this game. My heart has been broken so many times that I will not pay attention to anything that has the word Fallout in it unless it's a video made and uploaded by Bethesda themselves.

@paulmako: Bethesda already said they've no announcements for the event.

@jesus_phish:

Ahh OK thanks, that saves me from staying up until the wee hours watching it.

In that case I'm hoping for a December 23rd stealth release.

We've seen plenty of acting calls and small leaks so yeah, they're working on fallout 4 and have been for years.

Probably? BGS is definitely working on something and as much as I would like that to be a new IP, that seems highly unlikely.

My uncle works there and he says totally. Also they are making Half-Life 3

I would bet that, much like Fallout 3, it has been going through a ton of false-starts, refocus-ings, and vastly different iterations as they try to build what the next game & engine should encompass.

10 years passed between Fallout 2 and Fallout 3 (though there were two side games released in that period).

I hope they take their time. If Fallout 4 is just another iteration on the established FO3/NV/Skyrim formula I'd be just fine with it, but actually a little bit bummed out. I think Bethesda would be, too. I imagine they are striving for another big leap for the series like FO3 was.

I want this game so much it almost hurts, but on the other hand I'm happy to let them take their time with it so it's as good as it can possibly be. I won't bother with the new consoles until it comes out.

@whitegreyblack: I'm in the same boat as you, I would be fine with just another iteration, I've played and replayed 3 and NV to death so more of the same with a different map would be fine, I would still enjoy it.
But I really hope they do something fresh with it, even just a few things here and there would make all of the difference to the world of Fallout, imagine if combat was actually fun, Far Cry 4 meets Fallout. Or if the AP system was actually meaningful besides aim for the percent with the most likeness of hitting, then wait for it to re-fill, rinse, repeat, yawn, maybe as the first two games did, like the enemies use the system too when you do so its a calculated risk instead of just some cheat mode basically.
Hire competent writers who can do more 'grey area' dialogue choices, NV was pretty good at the amount of choices you had, sadly that had nothing to do with Beths writers who seem to be stuck in. "Murder all of the innocent people" or "Do not murder all of the innocent people" as their choices.
Just shake it up a little.

@zolroyce: Yeah, Bethesda's writing team definitely needs to take a look around the industry and ask themselves "how do we create meaningful moral choices,and do it better than anyone else is doing in this industry?" Even if they don't achieve some mystical pinnacle of writing, they do need to step up their game.

And they all had the same lines. How stupid is that?

Man I fucking hope so. I'd love another fallout game. You can only play New Vegas so much. I wish they'd just announce it, even if it takes them another 2 years to get it out the door, it'd be nice to know that it is indeed on its way.

I think sequels should take long enough to develop so that not only is the technology a little better and lessons learned from the previous game implemented, but that new ideas have time to percolate by the team making these games so that they can be somewhat distinguishable from the game that came before. Games like COD, AC and Far Cry 4 are fine and even good, but they shouldn't exist in their current formats. A new game should have a reason for existing in addition to it's already existing older sibling.

With how well Skyrim sold, I would not be at all surprised if getting another TES out is given priority over Fallout.

God, I hope Fallout 4 comes before another Elder Scrolls game. I don't mind if Bethesda wants to spend a long time developing it, but some sort of official confirmation would be great. Fallout 3 was probably one of my favorite games of the last generation, so I've been waiting for Fallout 4 for a long time.

@jimbo: I partly agree, but I think there is too much life blood still in Skyrim. They want that game to get beat to death before they release another Skyrim because otherwise, people won't be desperate for it.

To OP, you have to consider that when they likely started development, which would have been mid-late 2012 at the earliest (though likely later than that), they were probably just starting to get dev kits for the new consoles. So, there's a learning period that is required with that (example: Batman: Arkham Knight). Their systems in their games are so complex that it probably took awhile to learn how to utilize the new consoles. So, when that's all said and done, they've likely only put in a year or so of hard work into the game if any at all. There may be a trailer coming soon, but I don't expect it to come out until 2016 or later just because video games are hard, y'all.

You can't really compare the time between Fallout 2 and Fallout 3 to this. What happened there was Interplay going under and laying off everyone at Black Isle during the Van Buren game, and then Fallout 3 being in legal limbo for a while. Bethesda started working on Fallout 3 around mid 2004 and was released late 2008. Neither of those other 2 Fallout games you mentioned were made by Black Isle, so they don't really count as far as the "main" games.

But anyway, I agree. However long it takes them to make it right, do it.

The problem that I've had so far is that we've heard nothing. Usually by now, someone would have at least heard some rumors about it, but nothing. Unless they are going radio silent for a big reveal sometime soon (the new award show perhaps) or E3, or all of that stuff weird ARG stuff before was just some crazy Kolima-style bait and switch... I don't know. But I'm a little worried.

Shit, yeah you are right about that. My point, really, was just that these things take time; and sometimes it's worth the wait.

I mean, the game has probably only been in development for like, two years now. It makes sense we haven't heard anything official about it.

I think Skyrim's unexpected mainstream success changed the trajectory of the company. Before that, Fallout and TES were seemingly of equal importance and people assumed after Skyrim well now they make a new Fallout. I don't think that's the case. I think a lot of those guys are working to fix up the TES MMO and after that they're probably working on the next TES game. And maybe Obsidian starts working on Fallout 4 after they finish this Pillars game.

Also worth noting the lead artist on the Fallout 3 games passed away. They could be meandering creatively, trying to figure out how to make Fallout something shareholders care about as much as TES. Or maybe they're working on a new engine and having issues, or they're trying to make Rage fit their needs and having issues. A bunch of bullshit happened after Fallout 3 that made Bethesda a much different company.

For me personally, Wasteland 2 scratched the itch just fine. Moreso, even, by merit of the fact that its a full party game and Fallout always had the issue of me having to choose between which eccentric companion I want to hear commentary from. That needs to change, you should have at least 3 companions. But that creates a host of other issues from a company who's games are notoriously buggy.

Pretty much. The reason why we heard the same voice actors was because there were more NPCs than in Oblivion.

People really have no patience.

@bargainben: TES Online is developed by Zenimax Online Studios and Zenimax Media Inc. Bethesda didn't or barely touched that pile of trash. They've been casting for fallout 4 for years now and we even know where the game is going to take place. It's fine hoping Obsidian is making the next fallout, NV was in fact the better game last time around, but it's a pipe dream.

They might be encountering issues on building a new engine or they might be taking their sweet time but Bethesda is definitely working on Fallout 4.

I wonder what will come out first: the next Elder Scrolls or the next Fallout?

As head of Bethesda, I can confirm that Half-Life 3 is being developed.

I know. Which is why I suspect they're being tasked with fixing the thing up now. It was a huge investment for Zenimax and probably their number 1 priority by a lot.

Let's not act as if Fallout 3 was some niche game. BGS's games have only gotten more commercially successfully with each new release. Fallout 3 was more successful than Oblivion, Skyrim more successful than Fallout. At the time Fallout 3 was a massive hit, and I even remember people suggesting that it had much more sales potential than Elder Scrolls because of the broader appeal of shooting guns over swords and sorcery.

No one would have expected Skyrim to achieve the kind of sales numbers it did (COD and GTA territory), but to suggest that its success makes Fallout less attractive for the money dudes seems silly. Fallout 4 may buck the trend of each successful Bethesda game outselling the last simply because Skyrim was so hugely successful, but it's a guaranteed hit that will make many millions of dollars regardless.

Also, Elder Scrolls Online is a completely different studio, I'd be shocked if any of the core Bethesda Game Studios people were wasting even a second of time on it.

I don't really follow what's up with TES Online but to my knowledge, there isn't anything pointing to a huge change in what the game is or huge improvements coming in the future. They don't seem to be ''fixing'' anything at the moment. Anyway, we know Fallout 4 has been development over at Bethesda for years now and nothing indicates they've been shifting to TES:O, especially when you consider Fallout is a somewhat guarantied money maker and TES:O definitely isn't.

Is TES:O doing that poorly anyway? If it was they would've switched to F2P by now.

I think its doing well enough to survive in the same way Final Fantasy 14 and a handful of other things that arent WoW are. But I don't think the intention was for it to just be some game that does ok for them.

Again all I can do is speculate because Bethesda's been silent for Fallout 4 for years. Meanwhile, Skyrim LE and vanilla Skyrim are both regularly showing up on the Steam Top Sellers list on a regular basis even now. Even when its not on sale.

Fallout 3 wasn't a failure by Skyrim is a much larger success, they're not equally valued IPs I don't feel like.

Don't care. I don't like the Bethesda open world cRPG and I found the world building, quest design and writing of Fallout 3 to be abysmal. Hell, I hated few games more than that one.

Wake me up, however, when Obsidian gets tasked with doing Fallout: Boston or whatever it's going to be, because fuck me, I love myself some Chris Avellone and the gang. New Vegas was the tits, even if it wasn't half as good as the original two Fallouts. Although I get that it may be a longshot, since New Vegas pretty much happened so that former Black Isle people could close the lid on old Van Buren concepts.

Hell, better idea, just put the Obsidian people in charge of writing and design.

Whatever Bethesda invested in ESO, BGS is their money maker, their golden goose. They're not going to delay the next guaranteed hit from that studio to try and save what may or may not be a sinking ship. ESO was an attempt to leverage the Elder Scrolls name into a project not made by Bethesda Game Studios. If they then turn around and have those guys wasting time and energy trying to "fix" Elder Scrolls Online it defeats the purpose of establishing Zenimax Online as a separate studio.

Also, that game is what it is. There's nothing BGS can do to make it not an MMO, and having played some of it there's nothing offensively bad about it that screams for immediate fix. Throwing more manpower and money at it will not result in people suddenly being okay paying a monthly fee for an MMO.

Again, about the Fallout vs. TES thing. Fallout 3 sold a fair bit more than Oblivion, so saying Elder Scrolls is automatically a more lucrative IP because Skyrim did so well isn't necessarily the case. I think it's more that Bethesda style games continue to get more popular with each one, and whether it's Elder Scrolls or Fallout people simply like the games BGS makes. Elder Scrolls Online is proof it isn't the simply the Elder Scrolls name that sells.

i think it's interesting how people constantly complain about Bethesda's engine and then when a new generation of hardware rolls along instead start complaining about how they haven't announced anything yet. not directed towards the OP or even anyone in this thread, really, just a general observation. i see it in a lot of places.

they're actively trying new stuff and they're excited about the new hardware―there was an interview with Todd about how they were playing around with interiors and exteriors as part of the same seamless world now that they have the memory available to pull it off―so it's not like they're just sitting on their asses. they're reworking their tools to allow them to do stuff they couldn't before, and they're trying to do it right this time so they don't run into another Oblivion.

A source I can't disclose has informed me that it is not actually in development, they were making it but it was canceled.

Well what else could Bethesda possibly be doing? I hope they are indeed updating their engine as people have suggested. Would be kind of funny if the AAA release that was relatively free of bugs this gen/next year/whatever was a Bethesda game.

I hope they make it good.

I bet Bethesda Softworks makes Elder Scrolls VI before Fallout 4. Developers like to put sentimental value on what they release and I wouldn't be surprised if they tout a "new" engine that is made for the current generation and tie it to TESVI. I know Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Evil Within was published by them, but if I were Mr. Bethesda I'd be hellbent on making an Elder Scrolls game and give it the honor of being the first one out the door for this generation.