Bethesda Game Studios is busy developing its next-gen selection of titles. Starfield is set to release in November 2022, with The Elder Scrolls 6 following in the years after. Conservatively speaking, a release date of the mid 2020s, somewhere between 2024-2026, is the most likely for it. And, given a couple of years of leeway, the next Bethesda Game Studios-developed Fallout game is not likely until late 2020s or early 2030s.
The last release, Fallout 76, had a mixed reception at launch. It has since grown into a much bigger and better game, but it's not what many long-standing fans of the franchise wanted. Fallout 4, the last fully single-player game in the franchise, released in 2015, meaning it could be anywhere from 12-15 years between the last and next Fallout game...if it's kept in-house at Bethesda Game Studios. Some have long hoped Bethesda would loan it out to get another game in the franchise sooner, and that added fuel to the fire of the fake Interplay Entertainment revival.
Fake Interplay Revival Came with Another Fake Announcement
A few days ago, a new-but-now-deleted Twitter account claimed to be the revival and rebirth of Interplay Entertainment. Many may know Interplay from the creation of the Fallout series before it eventually changed hands, and many fell for the announcement hook, line, and sinker. The bigger problem with the announcement is that Interplay still exists. It sold off IP in 2016, announced it was co-publishing a remaster of 3D Realms in 2020, and via Black Isle Studios released the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance remaster in 2021. Some may have saw it as a pseudo-revival announcement, as plans for it to reach the heights it once had, or anything else, but regardless, one big post had many drop most of their suspicions.
Shortly after the initial account's announcement of its revival, it posted the iconic "Please Stand By" image associated with new announcements of a Fallout game. Interplay coming back with a new Fallout game would be a big announcement, and many couldn't see the forest for the trees. The account was obviously fake. Not only was it recently created (despite there being an official Interplay account, which as seen above, posted the announcement shortly after), but it had only four tweets and no important followers associated with Interplay.
Many were just excited to see a potentially new Fallout game being announced. It begged the question of whether it was going to be like the first couple, if it was going to be like Fallout 4, or if it was some sort of new spin-off. Ultimately, it was none of these things.
The Future of Fallout
With many excited by a fake Fallout announcement, it begs the question of what comes next for the franchise. It should be noted that an Xbox executive let slip a new Fallout game was in development earlier this year, but whether that was an accidental slip of the tongue, whether it was just a random name drop, whether it was broadly an idea, or anything like that remains to be seen. In fact, it should be noted that it was in discussing other Xbox titles, like Halo and Forza, not Bethesda.
Mainline titles will always like remain with Bethesda, just as Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. Fallout 5 may not release until the 2030s, but it will be made by Bethesda. As such, it should be noted that the next Fallout game doesn't have to be made by Bethesda, nor does it have to be Fallout 5. Just because the Interplay revival and associated Fallout game was fake doesn't mean Bethesda wouldn't outsource the brand to another developer.
It has before, with the much beloved Fallout: New Vegas resulting in fans begging for a Fallout: New Vegas 2 or Fallout: New Orleans for years. Bethesda is leaving money on the table by not making the games or having others keep the game relevant. If 12-15 years pass between main Fallout releases, then that would even hurt them.
Of course, this is just speculation but it's also grounded in Bethesda's typical development pipeline. A Bethesda-developed Fallout game is a long way away, and instead of making both Elder Scrolls and Fallout fans wait for so long, it can really establish itself under Microsoft's umbrella by putting all of its IPs out there.
Speculation: Fallout: New Vegas 2/New Orleans Isn't Impossible at Obsidian
Obsidian Entertainment is just as busy as Bethesda Game Studios, but it has proven to be a big RPG powerhouse for Microsoft. After The Outer Worlds, Obsidian released Grounded in early access. It is currently working on Avowed, as well as The Outer Worlds 2, but that's not even it. It's known that Obsidian Entertainment is working on a "secret" project, one that hasn't been properly announced to the public yet, and this project is being led by Josh Sawyer.
Sawyer is perhaps known for spearheading Pillars of Eternity, but he's not working on Avowed which shares the same setting of Eora. This project could be Pillars of Eternity 3, although it seems unlikely with Avowed in development. He's also known for his work on Fallout: New Vegas moreso than others, and if Bethesda outsourced the studio to anyone, it makes sense it would be Obsidian. Initially, there was some known bad blood around Fallout: New Vegas' Metacritic controversy, but even before Microsoft acquired Bethesda (and put in under the same overall umbrella as Obsidian), the chances for reconciliation weren't impossible.
This, if this is what it is, would get fans a new Fallout game before the end of the decade, would deliver on fan requests made for the past decade, and could really revitalize the franchise. A return to New Vegas or a Fallout game set in New Orleans would check all the right boxes. Of course, this is just speculation until Sawyer confirms his project, and the chances of being wrong are incredibly high. Still, if there is hope for more Fallout games, it's more likely to come from Obsidian than it is Interplay.
No new Fallout game is known to be in development.