After a rough 2024 that saw development briefly put "on hold" and then resumed a few months later, Fallout: Nuevo Mexico, an ambitious Fallout: New Vegas mod that promised to turn players loose amidst the irradiated wasteland of New Mexico just five years after the events of the original Fallout, has been cancelled.
"This project has been my passion, my obsession, and a huge part of my life for years," says a message posted on the Fallout: Nuevo Mexico Discord, attributed to project lead Zapshock. "I’ve poured thousands of hours into it, late nights, early mornings, and everything in between. I’ve met amazing people along the way, some who’ve become long term friends and helped me grow and evolve into a better person. Some of the best moments of my life have been spent bringing this world to life, and I’ll always be proud of the work we accomplished.
"But as much as I love this project, I need to prioritize my mental health and face reality. The team is small (less than four), the workload enormous, and the costs ahead, both financial and personal, are too great. Continuing forward simply isn’t sustainable for me and everyone involved, including voice actors."
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Fallout: Nuevo Mexico was announced in 2021 and made quite an impression on PC Gamer's Rich Stanton when he eyeballed it in 2023, but the wheels seemed to come off in 2024 when the mod's YouTube channel was scrubbed of content and most of the channels on the Discord server were wiped. A couple months later, a message posted on Discord confirmed development had "been on hold for some time," and that "Zapshock has decided to step back from active participation in the community."
Unfortunate, but that sort of thing happens with big mods. But as noted by VG247, work resumed just a couple months later, and then a "reveal trailer" dropped in October 2024, showcasing a factional battle for dominance amidst the ruins of Mexico City, described as "the biggest hub in Fallout: Nuevo Mexico."
Now, though, the project has run aground again, and this time it seems permanent.
"To everyone who supported this project, from the kind words, the feedback, the excitement, to just believing in what we were trying to create, thank you from the bottom of my heart," the cancellation message states. "This message covers everything, so I kindly ask for your understanding."
The cancellation of Fallout: Nuevo Mexico comes just a few months after another big mod, Fallout: Vault 13, met the same fate. Fortunately for those eager to continue their post-nuclear adventures, the massive Fallout: London mod is still kicking: Following a successful release in July 2024, Team Folon announced in December that it has begun work on DLC that it hopes to have out sometime in 2025.
