Bethesda has plans for Fallout 5, but don't expect to hear about it anytime soon

The Pip Boy from the Fallout series being the benevolent hacker he is

(Image credit: Bethesda)

Fallout will continue, Bethesda boss Todd Howard has revealed. Just don't expect to be getting your hands on another post-apocalyptic RPG for quite some time.

In a recent interview with IGN, Howard was asked if Bethesda had future plans for Fallout—particularly considering that Bethesda's recent acquisition by Microsoft places it alongside Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian, raising (admittedly slim) hopes for future collaborations in the same vein.

"We've worked with other people from time to time, I can't say what's gonna happen," Howard told IGN when asked if Bethesda would ever consider handing off the franchise to another studio. "I'd like to find a way to accelerate what we do, but I can't really say today or commit to what's going to happen."

During the interview, Howard does stress that Bethesda has written a "one-pager" for Fallout 5, very roughly outlining potential plans for the next mainline game. But whatever form it comes in (or whoever ends up developing it), Bethesda won't be fully committing to a new Fallout for at least the next few years.

"Our cadence is Starfield, and then Elder Scrolls 6."

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.