Fallout 5 and Classic Fallout Remasters Coming from Bethesda and Obsidian
Overview & Key Takeaways
Bethesda's Fallout franchise is going into overdrive with remasters of Fallout 3 and New Vegas, plus a brand-new Fallout 5 and a new spinoff game.
Xbox wants more Fallout, and after a yearslong drought of new games, Bethesda Softworks is making it happen. Bethesda plans to release remasters of both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas for modern platforms, the company said in July in a massive roadmap of the developer's future.
Those remasters are part of a larger plan to reinvest in Fallout games, including Fallout 5, which is currently in pre-production, and a new project at Obsidian Entertainment.
"We have multiple Fallout projects in active development right now," Bethesda said in an official announcement this summer. That includes Fallout 5, which is described as the studio's "long-range destination," and "a major Fallout 76 expansion" planned for 2027 called Raven Rock, which will serve as a prequel story to Fallout 3.
Bethesda also confirmed two long-standing rumors, announcing remasters for Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. The studio did not provide any further details or a release window, but the projects have reportedly been in the works for many years. The existence of a Fallout 3 remaster dates back to at least 2020, when the project's existence was revealed through court documents related to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) litigation regarding Microsoft's buyout of Activision Blizzard.
Fallout Day 2026 isn't happening
Graphic: Polygon I Source images: Obsidian Entertainment
The studio also confirmed it won't hold a "traditional Fallout Day broadcast" in 2026, but is planning "something special for Fallout's 30th anniversary in 2027, when Fallout Day will be celebrated live in Washington, D.C." Bethesda's Fallout Day — which it's marked in 2024 and 2025 — takes place on Oct. 23, the date of the Great War in Fallout series lore.
Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas' remasters follow last year's release of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which was co-developed by Virtuos and Bethesda Game Studios. Bethesda also marked the 10-year anniversary of Fallout 4 in 2025, with the release of Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition. That rerelease included the original game, all six of the previously released DLC add-ons, as well as over 150 items pulled from the Fallout 4 Creation Club.
Fallout 3 was originally released in 2008 for PlayStation 3, Windows PC, and Xbox 360. The game was the third major installment in the Fallout series, and the first to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring the rights to the franchise from Interplay Entertainment. Fallout 3 is set in and around Washington D.C. 200 years after a devastating nuclear war, and players control a 19-year-old Vault dweller in search of their missing father.
Fallout: New Vegas followed in 2010, and was developed by Obsidian Entertainment. It was set in the Mojave Desert and casts players as a courier who becomes embroiled in a conflict between various factions who are vying for control of the region.
