Todd Howard has "nothing to talk about" for Fallout 5, but says Bethesda is "in plans for future games" in the sci-fi RPG series

Ella Purnell in Fallout
(Image credit: Prime Video)

Todd Howard says Bethesda is "in plans for future games" in the series, but isn't ready to say anything about that yet.

In an interview with Variety discussing the Fallout TV Show, Howard was asked what the success of the series might mean for new games in the universe. After all, it's been six years since Fallout 76 (which just got its new Fallout 76 Skyline Valley map) launched, and nearly a decade since the Fallout 4 marked the last traditional single-player entry.

In response to that question, Howard admitted that while he feels "like it took us 15 years from its initial inception" despite only taking five years, that's how long it takes to make a modern Bethesda game. The studio is "in plans for future games in this series," he says, but with Starfield less than a year old and The Elder Scrolls 6 next on the docket, there's "nothing to talk about right now."

It's widely understood that the next Fallout game will be Fallout 5, though whether it releases under that name remains to be seen. In fact, several major factors remain almost entirely unknown about the future of the Fallout franchise beyond the existence of Fallout Season 2. Last we heard, Bethesda developer Emil Pagliarulo told fans that "we need time to make great stuff," but that time is likely to stretch towards ten years at this point. Right now, I'm not hoping to see Fallout 5 this side of 2030, even if Howard does say Bethesda is "always planning."

One thing we do know is that Fallout 5 and beyond will "predominantly" be set in the US.

Ali Jones
News Editor

I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.

Read more
Fallout 5: A picture of Vault Boy giving a thumbs up in front of a closed vault from the Fallout games.
Fallout 5: Everything we know so far, and what we hope to see
The Elder Scrolls 6 screenshot of the landscape show in the announcement teaser
Upcoming Bethesda games: every game currently in the works
Elder Scrolls 6
The Elder Scrolls 6: Everything we know so far
Starfield
Bethesda breaks silence as Starfield fans hope for an update: "We have a lot of exciting things planned for the game this year"
Fallout
Following Fallout TV show's win at the Game Awards, the producer jokingly thanks New Vegas fans for "not burning down my house" and promises they will be "thankful" for what's coming in season 2
games like fallout - Fallout 4
Games like Fallout to jump into while we wait for Fallout 5
Latest in Fallout
Fallout overseer
Original Fallout creator says he "pushed" for a happy ending with "cake and balloons" instead of the RPG's downbeat finale
Fallout
Disco Elysium lead says original Fallout is an RPG "that's almost Biblical in its annihilation," making "other post-apocalyptic worldbuilding seem like an amusement park"
Fallout 4 mod Fallout London screenshot showing a ruinous post-apocalyptic Camden
As if Fallout: London wasn't already big enough, its devs now say the mod's "first DLC is getting closer" with "more surprises" to come
mister burke sat in a beige suit, black tie, white shirt, and black hat and shades
Bethesda fans raise $140k for prolific VA's medical bills as Bethesda describes him as "an incredibly talented and instrument part of our games"
Fallout: New Vegas mod Fallout: Nuevo Mexico
After 4 years, Fallout: New Vegas' massive New Mexico mod is canceled: "Continuing forward simply isn't sustainable"
MTG
30 years later, Fallout creator Tim Cain is searching for a legendary D&D player who cheesed an entire competitive dungeon with a lightning-fast Monk build
Latest in News
Rise of the Ronin
A year after its PS5 launch, Rise of the Ronin debuts on PC to "Mixed" reviews and performance complaints: "Stuttering on a 4090 is just... no"
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog
Dragon Age 2
Veteran Dragon Age dev says one big delay is better than several small ones: "You are laying band-aid on top of band-aid on top of band-aid"