Last Interplay's Fallout was set to take the iconic brand into the realm of MMOs long before FO76
Fallout Online was supposed to be the swan song of the brand under the wing of its first publisher, Interplay. However, the project encountered problems that ultimately proved to be the nail in the coffin.
Years before Bethesda announced Fallout Online is one of those mysterious projects that never came to fruition, though it might have disrupted the industry if fate had been more favorable. It's worth getting to know its story and tracing the turbulent circumstances in which it was created.
Enthusiasts and skeptics
Let's start with the fact that the idea for Fallout MMO was born in the mind of Brian Fargo. The source of this concept was a study conducted in the late '90s, which included a survey on the GameSpot website. The survey indicated that fans of the series would be eager to play an MMO game set in its universe. Initially only Fargo was enthusiastic about that.
Feargus Urquhart from Black Isle Studios was far more skeptical. He pointed out that while players might welcome a multiplayer Fallout with open arms, Black Isle had no experience working on projects of this type. What's worse is that the parent company of the studio, Interplay, was already experiencing financial problems at the time and couldn't afford to fund Fargo's idea.
As time went on, Tim Cain, another developer once closely linked to Fallout, contributed his two cents to the discussion. He pointed out the fact that the abbreviation for Fallout Online is... FOOL.
Broken family
The subject of a multiplayer Fallout returned in 2004, when Bethesda obtained the rights from Interplay to develop the third installment of the series and its two sequels. Interplay, on the other hand, retained the right to create an online version of the series. Furthermore, when Bethesda took full rights to the Fallout franchise in 2007, it granted Interplay a license to develop Fallout Online. Nonetheless, the publisher had to meet certain rigorous conditions, such as securing 30 million dollars to complete the project, initiating its development before April 2009, and launching it before April 2013.
The Birth of Fallout Online
Interplay had no choice but to throw themselves into the whirl of work on their probably last Fallout. The title, whose early code name was Project V13, has been overseen by Jason D. Anderson, the main project director, since November 2007. Unfortunately, the project was fraught with difficulties, and the Bethesda company reportedly did everything possible to undermine it, refusing to approve any project documents. Anderson remained in that environment until March 2009, when he departed from the team managing the project to inXile Entertainment.
Nonetheless, the multiplayer Fallout was still being developed, and on April 3, 2009, the world heard that Interplay received assistance in its creation from the Bulgarian Masthead Studios (creators of Earthrise: First Impact). We learned the official name of Project V13, which was Fallout Online, in June 2010.
Interplay and Bethesda War
In September 2009, a long legal battle began between the companies Bethesda and Interplay. The first party accused the second party of violating a trademark, breaching a contract, and engaging in unfair competition. A peculiar "tug of war" carried out by both sides, who were mutually throwing accusations at each other, lasted until January 2012, when they managed to sign a settlement.
It meant the cancellation of Fallout Online and the transfer of rights to Bethesda for developing Fallout MMO. Although Interplay was in a losing position here, this defeat was supposed to be mitigated by the right to sell the first two Fallout games and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, which the company retained until the end of 2013.
Fallout Online, which is what?
Fallout Online was supposed to take us to the West Coast of the United States, offering an open world that was said to cover an area of up to 65.5 thousand square miles. It would include sections of the American states of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Oregon, and California. The plot of the game would revolve around natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, as well as pandemics, including Forced Evolutionary Virus.
The driving force of the gameplay would be tasks that we would do solo, in teams, or as part of guilds (as there would be plenty of those as well). The creators planned to implement retrospectives that would present events from the first Fallout games.
A Fallout MMO would be quite close to what Bethesda created. The action would be viewed from a third-person perspective, and the gameplay would merge elements of RPGs and shooters. The devs aimed to let us play as not only humans but also ghouls or super mutants, and our choice would influence our character's specifics, strengths, and what it would have a knack for.
What is left of Fallout Online?
Fallout Online wasn't a high-profile project, and its creators didn't make impressive progress when the game was in development. The main reason for this situation was money, which Interplay simply did not have. Nevertheless, after the whole project, some materials were left. This refers to the screenshots used as illustrations for this text, along with the trailer released by Interplay in 2010.
Besides, no matter what you say, the foggy image of what Fallout Online could look like was showcased by Fallout 76, released in November 2018.
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