Is The Commonwealth to Be Fallout 4’s New Wasteland?
Bethesda’s open-world RPG formula has had the good fortune of going from popular in Fallout 3 to insanely fucking popular with the release of Skyrim. While a return to the Fallout franchise has not been made official by the company, it’s probably a safe bet that Bethesda is already pouring resources and development time into a successor considering their upward acclaim from title to title.
With that in mind, we can sink our teeth into this irradiated slice of a rumor. Speaking through the information laden avenues of Reddit, an anonymous user that “may or may not” be affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claims Bethesda is scouting the Boston region, researching the locale with the intention of using the city as a backdrop for Fallout 4.
The proverbial Pip-Boy fits given that The Commonwealth – Fallout’s apocalyptic version of the greater Massachusetts area – has already been referenced in series lore. Specifically in Fallout 3, a Blade Runner-esque subplot involving androids escaped from a place called “The Institute” (need I mention MIT?) serves as one of the more prominent mentions of The Commonwealth.
What’s the most important information we can glean from this rumor? That there are even rumors circulating in the first place, which equates to the first shaky steps in seeing this franchise continue. If this rumor be fact, that means pre-production has commenced…unfortunately that also probably means we won’t see Fallout 4 until the next console cycle. That’s the industry, kids. It never changes.