Fallout London ‘screwed’ after surprise Fallout 4 release
You wait for one bit of Fallout news, and then it all comes at once. While we know Bethesda's Fallout 5 is likely years away, that hasn't stopped the apocalyptic adventure from landing like a nuke on the gaming industry in 2024. Alongside Amazon's live-action series, we've got the next-gen Fallout 4 update, and the resurgence of Fallout 76.
For those worried that the Fallout series would be as barren as the Wasteland until Fallout 5 eventually releases, things couldn't be more opposite for the Bethesda favourite. Sadly, the long-awaited next-gen polishing of Fallout 4 has come with an unwelcome side effect for an equally long-awaited fan project.
Fallout London is 'screwed' after Fallout 4 upgrade
Anyone who is a regular here will know we're big fans of Fallout London, the total conversion mod of Fallout 4 that's been in the works since 2019. As the name suggests, Fallout London takes us to good ol' Blighty for some tea and cake - exploring a corner of the Fallout world that Bethesda is yet to.
In an interview with the BBC, Fallout London Project Lead Dean Carter claims that Bethesda has "screwed" them by releasing its next-gen Fallout 4 upgrade. Fallout London had originally planned to release on April 23, basking in the success of the series and tying into St. George's Day.
Bethesda apparently moved the goalposts by suddenly announcing the next-gen Fallout 4 upgrade was coming on April 25, and when Fallout London had to delay, it's been backed into a corner. Saying that if the next-gen update had come out in 2023 as originally planned, Fallout London would've had plenty of time to fix whatever was broken.
Saying he's had "zero correspondence" with Bethesda, Carter added, "For lack of better term, that has screwed us over somewhat." While he says he doesn't think it's malicious on Bethesda's part, he speculates that because it's not an official mod, Fallout London has been left in the dark.
London's calling
Click to enlargeWhile Fallout London is far from dead, the project's future remains unclear. This is a crying shame, especially as Bethesda seemed happy to let the conversion trundle along under its own steam. Bethesda was so impressed that it was even willing to poach staff to work on the official Fallout franchise.
Carter admits that it's 'frustrating' because Fallout London was "ready to go." Instead, the next-gen Fallout 4 script extender is causing everything to break: "We were all happy with it, and we were just like, 'No, that's got to come down,' because it would've just broken."
Despite remaining positive that Fallout London has hope once third parties iron out bug fixes, Carter says it's not a case of just pressing a button. When journalist Tom Richardson concluded by saying he hopes to see Fallout London at some point, Carter disheartedly added, "Yeah, me too." For now, Big Ben isn't chiming, and Fallout London is being kept locked in a vault.
