Josh Sawyer says the Fallout TV show is an 'amazing adaptation' of a videogame, and 'one of the best that I've seen'

Kyle MacLachlan in power armour, with an inset circular image of Josh Sawyer on a blue gradient background.
(Image credit: Amazon / Obsidian)

There's one thing all videogame adaptations in film and TV have in common: they stink. Or at least, that's how it felt for a long time—personally, I stopped adding the caveat 'good for a videogame adaptation' after I watched the Fallout show and learned these things didn't have to be somewhere between middling and godawful. But what do Fallout's designers and developers think of the show?

We know series co-creator Tim Cain loved it thanks to his YouTube channel, and more recently, New Vegas director Josh Sawyer said in an interview with The 41st Precinct that he enjoyed both seasons, watching them as they came out—and Sawyer specifically had some love for the show's interpretation of his game's factions and setting.

Josh Sawyer Interview - Human Can Opener Podcast - YouTube Josh Sawyer Interview - Human Can Opener Podcast - YouTube
Watch On

"I think it's an amazing adaptation, honestly," he said in the interview. "I know that the bar is not always very high for TV or film adaptations of videogames, but I think it's one of the best that I've seen, certainly." While there are things he might have done differently, he dismissed those as personal nitpicks: "Any writer is gonna look at something and be like 'meh, I don't know if I'd do that.'"

Latest Videos From

As far as the show's take on New Vegas itself is concerned, Sawyer said he loved Justin Theroux's take on the character and wasn't "too bent out of shape" about changes that were made to suit the script, like the Dinky the Dinosaur landmark being turned to face a different direction than it is in the game (that might sound like an extremely small detail if you haven't played New Vegas, but trust me, people have opinions on this stuff).

"I get why people get upset about that, but also the scene wouldn't work at all [if Dinky's orientation matched the game]," he laughed in the video. "Maybe people will say I'm a traitor to Fallout now, or something. But I don't know, I thought it was a good representation of a lot of the iconic stuff."

That lines up with what Sawyer has said in previous interviews, where he noted he thought of himself as "a guest" working on Fallout rather than someone who'd need a say in how it's represented in a TV show a decade and a half later.

2026 gamesBest PC gamesFree PC gamesBest FPS gamesBest RPGsBest co-op games

2026 games: All the upcoming games
Best PC games: Our all-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Best co-op games: Better together

Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.