Todd Howard Hints Fallout 5 Could Be on the Fast Track Thanks to Bethesda's Overlap Strategy
Todd Howard’s latest Game Informer interview all but cocks the hammer on Fallout 5. By outlining Bethesda’s overlapping teams and early pre-production, he signals the next wasteland trek is shifting from blueprint to build—the tease fans have been waiting for.
Bethesda is doing that thing where they say a lot without saying the one thing fans want to hear. Todd Howard just gave a pair of interviews that, taken together, make it sound like Fallout 5 is quietly on the runway while The Elder Scrolls 6 keeps chugging along. Nothing is confirmed, but the signals are hard to ignore.
What Todd actually said
Talking to Game Informer about Elder Scrolls 6, Howard said development is moving along and most of the studio is focused on it. Then he got into some shop-talk about how Bethesda runs multiple tracks at once and spends a long time in pre-production before going all-in. His words:
"It is progressing really well. The majority of the studio's on VI, but I'll say this: We always overlap. So, we're very used to overlapping development. And we have long pre-productions on things so that we feel good about them. And it's a process. We all wish it went a little bit faster - or a lot faster - but it's a process that we want to get right."
Quick translation: Elder Scrolls 6 is the main show, but something else is already simmering. And since Elder Scrolls 6 moved out of pre-production a while ago, that long pre-production phase he mentioned pretty much has to be for... something not named Elder Scrolls.
Reading between the lines
- Most of Bethesda Game Studios is on Elder Scrolls 6, which was announced way back in 2018 and is still a ways off.
- They "always overlap," meaning while one giant RPG is in full swing, the next thing starts in pre-production.
- Pre-production is the first, crucial step. If Elder Scrolls 6 is past that step, then whatever just entered pre-production is likely the next flagship.
- Given where Bethesda is right now - Starfield did not land for a lot of players, Fallout 4 just got an Anniversary Edition, and Amazon's Fallout series is a legit hit - the smartest bet for that mystery project is a new Fallout game.
The Fallout tease got stronger
Howard also fielded the inevitable question from IGN about Fallout: New Vegas - remaster, sequel, anything to hold fans over while everyone waits for Fallout 5. He stayed coy, but he did not downplay how busy they are with the franchise:
"We've had a long-term plan for Fallout, and so I wish I could talk about all those today. I'll just say this, it's the franchise that we're doing the most in right now."
That is classic Todd Howard - professional hype without hard details - but it lines up with the TV momentum and the recent Fallout 4 refresh. Whether that "most" means a full Fallout 5, a New Vegas remaster, a spin-off, or some combo, there is clearly Fallout work happening behind the curtain.
So... is Fallout 5 actually happening?
Officially, no announcement. Realistically, Bethesda's overlapping pipeline and long pre-production approach point to a new Fallout being in the early stages alongside Elder Scrolls 6. And if they are already laying groundwork, it could arrive sooner than some people expected - still not "soon," but not a total decade-away mirage either.
If you had to pick: would you rather see a New Vegas remaster as the appetizer, or skip straight to Fallout 5 as the main course?