Fallout 5 Officially Confirmed, May Arrive Sooner Than We Thought

Fallout is definitively one of the hottest properties in gaming right now, and that's all despite their not having been a new release in the series since MMO Fallout 76 in 2018. The Prime Video adaptation brought a ton of new fans on board, and reminded existing fans just how exciting the franchise can be when done right.

The only unfortunate caveat to that excitement is that Bethesda is largely focused on The Elder Scrolls VI right now, with many expecting the next Fallout game to release beyond 2030. That said, things are changing all over the place at parent company MIcrosoft/Xbox right now, and there could be the green shoots of hope that the game is finally getting the attention it deserves.

In case you missed it, The Information reported on new Xbox head Asha Sharma's meteoric rise to the position, and what it means for the brand going forward. As part of that, it mentions that Sharma has a few particular areas of focus, one of which is getting the next Fallout game out to fans as soon as possible.

Though there's the obvious risk of it going too far and releasing in a state that isn't acceptable to anyone, this renewed focus on a fresh, single-player Fallout game is almost certainly a good thing for fans. Whether it means the next game will be outsourced or Bethesda will simply be given additional resources remains unclear, but something needs to change if she wants to carry through on her goals.

Over on Reddit, under a post sharing the news, fans reacted just as you might expect. "It will forever baffle me how they made an entire season of their very popular TV show set in New Vegas and didn’t even have a remaster ready to launch," one comment read.

While another added, "You drop 7 billion dollars on a studio and just let them vibe for five years instead of immediately fast-tracking the two biggest money printers they own. Absolutely wild business strategy."

"I mean, the show alone introduced so many new people to the franchise and all they had to show for it, game-wise, was Fallout 4 and 76. It's crazy to me, they didn't pair the second season of a great show with a remake or anything to keep people hyped about it," a third agreed.

Whatever Xbox has been doing up to this point alongside Bethesda, it's clear that the status quo around Fallout and the developers other big franchises can't continue. Let's just hope that means we get great game, more regularly moving forward.