Bethesda announces Fallout 5 and remasters for Fallout 3 and New Vegas

Bethesda Softworks has several Fallout projects in active development, Polygon reported on Nov. 13. The studio said in an official announcement, "We have multiple Fallout projects in active development right now." The publisher laid out the plans in a July roadmap. It confirmed remasters of Fallout 3 and its 2010 follow-up for current platforms, though no release windows were provided. Bethesda framed the remasters as part of a broader effort to put more investment into the Fallout series. Fallout 5 is in pre-production and is described as the studio's "long-range destination." Bethesda also announced a 2027 expansion for Fallout 76 called Raven Rock, which will act as a prequel to Fallout 3, and a new untitled Fallout project at Obsidian Entertainment.

Polygon noted that the remasters have long been reported to be in the works. A Fallout 3 remaster has existed since at least 2020, according to court documents from the Federal Trade Commission's litigation over Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The Fallout remasters come after last year's launch of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, a collaboration between Virtuos and Bethesda Game Studios. Bethesda also celebrated the 10th anniversary of Fallout 4 in 2025 with Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition. That package combined the base game, all six previously released DLC packs, and more than 150 Creation Club items from Fallout 4.

Fallout 3 first shipped in 2008 across PlayStation 3, Windows PC, and Xbox 360. It was the third mainline Fallout game and the first one Bethesda developed after buying the franchise rights from Interplay Entertainment. Set in and around Washington D.C. two centuries after a devastating nuclear war, its story centers on a 19-year-old Vault resident trying to find a missing parent. Fallout: New Vegas arrived in 2010, developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Set in the Mojave Desert, it puts players in the role of a courier pulled into a struggle among groups competing for control of the area.

A third run of the Fallout TV series is also in production and recently finished filming. Meanwhile, Bethesda Game Studios is working on the next entry in its fantasy role-playing franchise, The Elder Scrolls 6: Sentinel.