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Bethesda Game Studio’s head Todd Howard revealed that the studio has already written the basic premise for Fallout 5, but that it is currently hard at work on other titles such as Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6. While he couldn’t comment on development schedules, Howard explained that he likes to take two years on the pre-production stage of a game. At the very least, this means that fans will likely not get to see a Fallout sequel for a couple of years.
In an in-depth interview with IGN, Todd Howard talked about Bethesda’s development process over the years leading up to the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Currently, Bethesda has confirmed that it is working on the development of the sci-fi adventure game Starfield as well as the next Elder Scrolls sequel. However, not much information has been revealed about its other massively popular franchise, Fallout.
Among other things, the interview touched on Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Bethesda. When asked whether the new acquisition would allow Bethesda to hand off the next Fallout sequel to another studio, Howard didn’t seem too keen on the idea.
I don’t see… Look, Fallout‘s really part of our DNA here. We’ve worked with other people from time to time, I can’t say what’s going to happen. We have a one-pager on Fallout 5 on what we want to do … I’d like to find a way to accelerate what we do, but I can’t really say today or commit to anything what’s going to happen, when, other than ‘hey, our cadence is Starfield and then Elder Scrolls 6
In video game development, a one-pager is a document that outlines the basic premise, mechanics, target demographic, and overall vision for a game. In other words, there is an idea of what Fallout 5 would look like at Bethesda Game Studios in the form of an official document.
However, Howard follows this up by saying that the team at Bethesda — which tends to focus on a single game at a time — usually takes around two years of pre-production before going into development. From there, a game typically takes “around 12 to 24 months” of development. This means that, at minimum, a Bethesda game will take four years to make. Unfortunately, it also means that Fallout 5 fans won’t be getting a mainline sequel any time soon.
[Source: IGN]