Todd Howard is finally giving fans a real clue about how Bethesda is thinking about Fallout 5, and it comes down to one word: canon. In a BBC Newsbeat interview that’s now making the rounds, Howard said the Fallout TV series will have an impact on Fallout 5, because the next mainline game will exist in a world where the show’s stories and events “happened or are happening” and Bethesda is “taking that into account.”
That is a bigger statement than it looks at first glance, because it frames the show as more than a side story. It is something the future games have to live with.
The Show Is Not “Fallout 5,” But It Is Part of the Timeline
When the series first launched, Bethesda and the show’s creative team were careful about one thing: this was not a retelling of Fallout 3 or Fallout 4 with familiar questlines and a different cast. It was an original story set in the same universe, built to feel like Fallout without replaying a game you already know.
What makes that approach especially meaningful is where the show sits on the timeline. Prime Video has positioned the series in the year 2296, which places it later than the main games most people think of as the “modern” era of the franchise. If the show is moving the clock forward, then it is also setting the newest “current day” for the world. And once you do that, it becomes harder for the next game to pretend none of it happened.
What “Taking That Into Account” Probably Means
Howard’s quote does not mean Fallout 5 is going to be a direct sequel to the show, or that it will follow the same characters step for step. Bethesda has always treated Fallout as a big sandbox where new protagonists pop up in different corners of the wasteland.
But “taking it into account” almost certainly means a few things for the next game’s lore and worldbuilding:
First, major status quo changes matter. If the show establishes that a certain faction has fallen, risen, splintered, or relocated, Fallout 5 cannot casually contradict that without breaking the shared continuity Bethesda is talking about.
Second, it gives Bethesda a new set of “known facts” to write around. Even if Fallout 5 takes place in a different region, the wider world still has to make sense. Characters will reference events. Radio broadcasts will hint at outcomes. Faction politics will ripple outward. That is the kind of connective tissue that makes a shared universe feel real.
Third, it is a signal that the show is now a place where canon gets added, not just borrowed. For game fans, that is both exciting and a little nerve-racking, because it means the TV writers can put permanent pieces on the board.
Bethesda Has Been Guarding “Fallout 5” Territory For A While
This also lines up with something Howard said back in 2024, when he talked about occasionally steering the show away from specific ideas because Bethesda wanted to save them for Fallout 5. That is the kind of behind-the-scenes detail that screams “we are planning long-term,” even if the planning is still early and vague.
So the current comment reads less like a sudden change and more like Bethesda being ready to say the quiet part out loud: the show and the next game are not separate lanes. They are sharing the road, and Bethesda is acting like the traffic cop.
The Big Catch Is Timing
If you are hoping this means Fallout 5 is right around the corner, the rest of Bethesda’s schedule is the reality check.
Howard has repeatedly pointed to The Elder Scrolls VI as the studio’s main focus, and earlier reporting has also quoted him saying Fallout 5 comes after Elder Scrolls VI. More recently, he has described Elder Scrolls VI as progressing well and noted that the majority of the studio is on it.
So the likely outcome here is not “the show unlocks Fallout 5.” It is “the show helps carry the franchise forward while Fallout 5 takes its time.”
In the meantime, Bethesda still has Fallout 76 as its active game, plus whatever other projects and releases the company chooses to slot in around the TV momentum. The Fallout brand is bigger than it has been in years, and the show gives them a way to keep expanding the world even when the next mainline game is still far off.
What Fans Should Watch For Now
If Howard is being literal, then future seasons of the series can leave fingerprints that Fallout 5 will eventually have to acknowledge. Not necessarily with cameos, but with consequences.
So if you are a lore person, the fun shift is this: watching the show is no longer just spotting references. It is also tracking what might become part of the franchise’s “new normal” by the time Fallout 5 arrives.
Source: PCGamer
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