Fallout 3 lead writer Emil Pagliarulo explains that Bethesda was nervous when making the game, but by Fallout 4 the team had calmed down.
It might not seem like it, since it made roughly the same number of games as Interplay in its seven-year existence, but Bethesda has owned Fallout for nearly two decades (having acquired the license in 2004 before buying it outright in 2007). Fallout 3, released in 2008, immediately catapulted the franchise from a beloved cult hit PC game that had been dormant for some time straight into superstardom, with console gamers finally able to play the series' flagship title.
But despite how popular it was, Bethesda wasn't confident in creating its own take on the series right away, as Pagliarulo explains to GamesRadar+: “The thing about Fallout 3 is that it's a transitional game. This was the first Fallout we made. So we wanted to make sure that we really honored the legacy of the franchise and the earlier games.” He adds: “We owned it, but owning a franchise and owning an intellectual property is different from feeling like you own it creatively.”
However, by the time Fallout 4 was released, Bethesda had already been at the helm of the franchise for over a decade, releasing the game of the year winner in Fallout 3 and publishing the best Fallout game, New Vegas. Pagliarulo adds: “I think by the time Fallout 4 came out we felt more comfortable and thought, 'Well, now we don't have to be so deferential, it's not just nostalgia, we can create something new.'
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