10 Theories And Predictions for Fallout 5

10 Predictions and Theories for Fallout 5

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at our theories and predictions for “Fallout 5”.

Release Window

We know almost nothing about “Fallout 5”, just that Todd Howard has a rough, one-page outline of the direction he wants the game to go, with Bethesda currently focusing on “Starfield” DLC and “The Elder Scrolls VI”. But given the massive, renewed popularity of the IP thanks to the TV show, Howard has also said he wants Bethesda to increase its output. Microsoft seems to want the same thing, too. But everything’s pointing to “Fallout 5” not being available on this console generation at all. Even if they started production on it today, we’re going to have new machines within the next three or four years, and this would be a huge game. So, our money’s unfortunately on the game not releasing until the next decade and dropping on PlayStation 6 and whatever Xbox’s next console is.

Spin-Off

If there’s no way for Bethesda to get a “Fallout” follow-up ready that quickly, it makes sense that Microsoft might want to look at one of its other studios to make a spin-off. Bethesda couldn’t really stop Microsoft from doing this anymore, though they’ve supposedly been dead against spin-offs from non-Bethesda studios for years. Feargus Urquhart from Obsidian has said publicly that he’d love the company to make another “Fallout” game, and it’s known that the studio has unsuccessfully pitched new “Fallout” games to Bethesda over the years. Some more conspiratorial fans believe that Bethesda’s refusing because they don’t want Obsidian to embarrass them again with a vastly superior game. However, with Obsidian busy on its own, original IPs, maybe another studio from Microsoft would get the call.

Creation Engine

Though Bethesda has said time and time again that its engine has been “updated” for whatever the latest game is, fans know that this is barely true. Yes, the games do improve graphically and get more complex, but the game engine is still rife with bugs and glitches, some of which have been around since the days of “Morrowind” and still aren’t fixed. And despite the tighter focus of “Starfield”, it still launched with plenty of frustrating errors, with PC players yet again relying on modders to fix everything. We’re sure that this pattern won’t be broken with the next game, and that there will be new and interesting bugs for us to encounter.

Settlement Building

The settlements were a welcome addition to “Fallout 4”. Despite seeming a little weird at first, and despite also spawning Todd’s infamous “it just works” line when he described it at E3 2015, people liked the idea of rebuilding the wastes. This became much more important in “Fallout 76”, which focuses heavily on crafting and survival, and it reappeared in “Starfield”, this time with a new, overhead view. While most players in “Starfield” won’t need to engage with the outpost building, since it’s more useful on repeat playthroughs when you have access to more complex crafting, it was still made even deeper. We’re sure that any new “Fallout” game will see a return of the settlement infrastructure and crafting.

Dialogue System

Even Todd Howard has admitted that Bethesda made a mistake with “Fallout 4’s” dialogue system. They decided to have a voiced protagonist, so the dialogue was made much simpler - none of the deep conversations and varied skill checks of “New Vegas”. Even “Fallout 4’s” biggest fans admit that the dialogue is an issue, and Bethesda fixed this in both “Fallout 76” after NPCs were added, AND in “Starfield”, which again had a silent protagonist. We’re sure that they’ll carry this lesson forward into “Fallout 5”, and that we’re likely not going to see a voiced protagonist in “The Elder Scrolls VI”, either. Who knew that people want role-playing in their role-playing games?

A Smaller World

One of “Starfield’s” biggest criticisms has been that while you CAN land on any planet in the game, those planets are all separated by loading screens and are almost totally empty. You can build outposts, sure, but there’s very little to do other than mine, document the wildlife, and complete the repetitive temples. Because you’re not going to be going to different planets, the map of “Fallout 5” will undoubtedly be much smaller. Bigger than “Fallout 4” and “Fallout 76”, sure, but definitely a return to tighter, more compact regions, since people preferred “Starfield” when they were in its major cities. We’d love to see a huge, post-war “Fallout” town with as much size and detail as New Atlantis or Akila City, blocked by far fewer loading screens.

Vehicles

In May 2024, Bethesda started showing off concepts for new land vehicles to add to “Starfield”. While it’s not expected that these vehicles are going to show up anytime soon – maybe along with the “Shattered Space” DLC – it’s good that Bethesda is working on this. They’ll be a huge benefit when traversing those huge planets. But we hope that they’ll take these vehicles with them into “Fallout”. So far, none of Bethesda’s “Fallout” games have really let you use vehicles at all. There are only the scripted and very unstable vertibird sequences, and the section in “Fallout 3: Broken Steel” where your head turns into a train. But we’d love a “Fallout” game where you’re able to drive a car or fly a veritbird yourself.

New Factions

This is an easy one, but we’re sure that a new “Fallout” game will add even more factions to the world. Factions, each representing a different way to build or rebuild society, have been a key part of the games since the beginning. We don’t know what kinds of factions will be added, but hopefully, they’ll be more interesting than the Institute and the Railroad were in “Fallout 4”. Then again, “Fallout 76’s” factions aren’t the most unique, either, even with the many updates. Hopefully, “Fallout 5” doesn’t yet again fall back on the Brotherhood and the Enclave. It’s fine to have the Brotherhood there, but it would be nice for newer, more original ideas to have their time in the spotlight. We’re not sure how well this will go, however, since “Starfield’s” factions were also made up entirely of clichés.

Playable Ghoul

The show has triggered a big discussion in the fanbase about the ghoul lore. In it, we see that all the ghouls need to take this mysterious, yellow drug to survive. Ghoul lore is generally inconsistent across the series, and some have suggested that only in the late 23rd century are the ghouls getting old enough to need this substance to stay lucid. Others have speculated that this is a way for Bethesda to add a new survival mechanic to an upcoming “Fallout” game where you can play as a ghoul. Obsidian wanted to add playable ghouls and super mutants back in “New Vegas” but were told no by Bethesda. Maybe now, though, they’ve finally seen the light, and want to give us the ghoul character we’ve been wanting for twenty years.

Setting

This is the big question: where will the next “Fallout” game be set? The setting determines a huge chunk of each game’s story and themes. We had the remnants of the US government in Washington, D.C.; cowboys and casinos in the Mojave; and an underground railroad in Boston. We DO know that the next game won’t be set in the southwest, since Todd gave Amazon a brief that they couldn’t put anything in the show that would conflict with future plans for the series. Many fans want the next game to head north, to Chicago and the Great Lakes, thus far only seen in “Fallout: Tactics”. It’s not likely the series would go to Miami officially since the huge “Miami” mod has been in the works for years, but a “Fallout” set in New Orleans or New York could be a lot of fun.

Let us know in the comments where YOU want “Fallout” to go next!