Explaining the Many Cancelled Fallout Projects

pollute a franchise with over 25 years of History has captivated audiences with its post-apocalyptic setting and Rich storytelling with 11 games released and the highly anticipated Fallout 5 at least announced it's a series that is left an unforgettable mark on gaming but admits its success there exists a graveyard of unrealized projects Fallout media that never saw the light of day the cancellation of these projects can be attributed to three intertwined issues that plagued the past core reception of certain games financial troubles at interplay entertainment the original publisher of Fallout and the subsequent acquisition of the followed intellectual property by Bethesda softworks today we'll delve into some early 2000s gaming history exploring the tales behind fallout's ill-fated Ventures we'll examine the known timelines the planned stories and the reasons behind their eventual abandonment so don your blackest of clothes grab a solemn bouquet and come along as we take a stroll through the graveyard that serves as the resting place for followed's many canceled projects before we proceed it's important to note that many of these projects were brought to light through unwanted leaks and discussing them may raise concerns about privacy and intellectual property however as a significant amount of time has passed since these leaks and interplay no longer possesses the followed IP we believe it's acceptable to explore these lost Creations for the purpose of entertainment and education with that being said let's begin [Music] interplays Fallout movie first up is the infamous Fallout movie that gets brought up every time someone tries to convince me that it was vault tech that launched the nukes but but Nord the 20 year old Fallout movie Pitch said that vault tech launched the nukes it must be true in 1998 interplay entertainment the developer and publisher of Fallout established interplay films with the aim of adapting seven of their most popular video games into movies including Fallout during that same year before the release of Fallout 2 Brent Friedman the writer of Mortal Kombat 2 penned several versions of the film treatment for the Fallout movie these treatments were essentially summaries of key story hooks however before a full script could be finalized interplay films was disbanded and none of interplay's planned movies including the Fallout adaptation would see the light of day fast forward about a decade to March 2011 when Friedman leaked one of his film treatments this leaked treatment was the second revision he had written as one would expect the film treatment followed the general storyline for the first Fallout game the protagonist is a dweller from vault 13 facing a malfunctioning water Chip and A looming mutant threat however there were a few notable differences instead of a lone Vault dweller a team of Vault dwellers was sent to the surface in this version Vault 8 instead of becoming Vault City was destroyed by mutants a roguish mad max-like character enters the picture this character alternates between hindering and helping the Dwellers the film treatment also includes some plot twists such as vault 13 actually having enough water chips and the overseer was just using the malfunctioning chip as an excuse to Exile the trio additionally it's revealed that the vault 13 overseer was responsible for starting the Great War fault 13 is eventually ambushed by the Master's Army leading to a three-way brawl between the trio vault security and the mutants in a martyrdom act the master who apparently isn't stuck in the LA Vault injects the Mad Max character with fev forcing the main protagonist to end his suffering it's one of those sad moments where a somewhat disagreeable character meets a tragic end evoking a sense of sadness ultimately the hero the female and approximately 50 volt survivors band together and use the Geck to establish a community in Arroyo the hero and the female become the metaphoric Adam and Eve bringing new life to the Wasteland roll credits now as mentioned this was quite literally only the second revision of the film treatment it's been confirmed that a third revision exists but has yet to be found The Fallout movie along with these six other planned video game adaptations was likely shelved due to financial issues despite achieving success with games like Fallout Baldur's Gate and MDK interplay was facing significant financial difficulties at the time spoiler alert this is a common Trend that you'll see throughout this video in an effort to Stave off bankruptcy interplay went public on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in 1998 as interplay entertainment followed extreme in 1999 one of interplay entertainment subsidiaries 14 degrees east was established with the specific purpose of developing strategy video games prior to being tasked with creating a Fallout title the studio was known for developing several Star Trek games ultimately 14 degrees east would go on to develop Fallout tactics however before tactics the team's initial foray into the Fallout Universe was a project known as followed extreme Fallout Xtreme was envisioned as a first and third person tactical action game slated for release on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms players would take control of a four-person Squad and have the ability to switch between any of the characters at any given time adding a dynamic element to the gameplay the game's premise revolved around the Brotherhood of Steel a once reclusive faction that had begun expanding its influence with their expansion came a new dogma of mutant and fev eradication in followed extreme players would command a squad of revolutionaries who stood in direct opposition to the Brotherhood their movement would be dubbed as the cause starting in Oregon the player would carve a path towards the brotherhood's new headquarters in Alaska gaining the loyalty and Aid of settlements along the way that were also opposed to the expansionist Brotherhood of Steel upon defeating the Brotherhood of Steel the player would uncover the true reason behind their aggressive expansion it turned out that Chinese remnants led by a new emperor were constructing a doomsday missile with the intent to wipe out the United States once and for all armed with this knowledge the player's objective would be to cross the Bering Strait and put an end to the emperor's plans and of all the stories we'll explore today Fallout extreme stands out as one of the weirdest it deviates from many of the familiar themes found in other followed games but there's nothing wrong with being different I guess in late November 2014 degrees east presented their Fallout extreme proposal to interplay unfortunately the game was rejected and subsequently canceled never progressing past the concept stage instead 14 degrees east shifted their focus to the development of Fallout tactics which would quite obviously achieve far greater success follow tactics 2. shortly before the release of the first Fallout tactics on March 15 2001 the developers micro Forte and 14 degrees east began production on Fallout tactics 2. the intended storyline of follow tactics 2 aimed to canonize the general barnicky ending from the first game in this ending General barnicky and the calculator merge their Consciousness resulting in the calculator Army and the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel combining forces to establish an anti-mutant dictatorship under this regime individuals showing signs of genetic Divergence would be rounded up and placed in internment camps often facing death as a consequence those who resisted this new Brotherhood calculator dictatorship would form the mutant Liberation Army and employ Guerrilla tactics in their struggle against the oppressive regime while this ending would serve as the background lore for the game the main antagonistic force would have been in a radiated Garden of Eden creation kit or Geck this Geck would rapidly generate mutant plants and fungi posing a significant threat to the Wasteland the player character would have been tasked with stopping the geck's destructive spread as you will soon discover this premise shares similarities with another canceled Fallout game unfortunately due to lack of information it appears that Fallout tactics 2 never progressed beyond the conceptual design stage According to some sources the game was canceled in December 2001 likely due to the first game failing to meet sales expectations [Music] Van Buren next is one that you've likely heard about from other followed craters and that is black owl studios's Fallout 3 codenamed Van Buren however what many may not know is that Van Buren was actually black Isle Studio's second attempt at creating a Fallout 3. Yep this is a two for one deal the initial Fallout 3 project prior to Van Buren was planned to utilize the infamous gamebrio engine some well-known titles on the game Brio engine include Divinity 2 civilization 4 bully Oblivion and ironically bethesda's followed three unfortunately due to financial difficulties at interplay the resources originally intended for the first Fallout 3 by black owl Studios were redirected towards the critically acclaimed 2000 classic ice wind Dale the next installment of Fallout would have to wait but not for long Van Buren would have followed the story of The Prisoner a character who could either be a hardened criminal or an innocent person wrongly imprisoned due to a misunderstanding the game would have commenced with an explosion in the night freeing The Prisoner from their cell and granting them the freedom to explore the American southwest Wasteland eventually players would have discovered the real reason behind the prison's attack Amad scientist named Victor presper not unlike other followed antagonists was disgusted with the state of the world determined to cleanse the filth that covered the Wasteland presbyter planned to utilize an advanced AI called Odysseus the prisoner's escape and a nuclear orbital platform to unleash Devastation upon Earth I understand it may sound strange and convoluted but let me explain so the pre-war new plague was a big dangerous threat to citizens of the United States and so the government designated a prison the very onely prisoner finds themselves in at the start of the game to house war criminals and deserters who had been exposed to the new plague they commissioned and advanced Zack's unit named Odysseus to manage the prison one of Odysseus's fail-safes included the launching of a nuclear payload from an orbital platform this extreme measure would only be activated in the event that infected individuals managed to escape and spread the new plague to countless others presbyter's primary plan was to deceive Odysseus into launching a nuclear strike on the United States he would infect a group of people in the remote areas of Boulder and Denver allowing them to be arrested and brought to the prison presby's men would then attack the prison facilitating their escape and triggering Odysseus's programming which would attempt to contain the new plague outbreak by initiating a nuclear countdown presper would subsequently travel to the orbital platform and assume control enabling him to choose specific areas to Target with nuclear strikes the plan was in essence to manipulate Odysseus and unleash Devastation as is often the case with mad scientist schemes it was rather convoluted however Van Buren would never see the light of day interplay grappling with financial difficulties once again disbanded the entire black Isle Studios team on December 8 2003. with their departure all their Works in progress including Van Buren were scrapped the team behind the classic followed 1 and 2 was no more unfortunately things continue to Trend downward for interplay found jobless a few former blackout Studios employees would go on to form Obsidian Entertainment and create quite a few bangers including Knights of the Old Republic 2 Fallout New Vegas the outer worlds and pentiment black owl Studios followed four here's a real fast one so prior to the cancellation of Van Buren or black owl Studios as Fallout 3 there were plans for a sequel a Fallout 4. black owl Studios Fallout 4 was intended to focus more on Kaiser's Legion since Van Buren had to cut content related to Kaiser's Legion many of those elements were intended to be carried over into the sequel however due to the cancellation of Van Buren in late 2003 Fallout 4 would also be canceled Fallout Brotherhood of Steel 2. Fallout Brotherhood of Steel will forever hold the title of being the worst followed game to be released it's difficult to imagine any future game surpassing that notoriety but a canceled project might have had the potential to claim that crown even before the release of the first Brotherhood of Steel game in 2001 interplay entertainment had already started work on its sequel followed Brotherhood of Steel 2. the design document for Fallout Brotherhood of Steel 2 was leaked on March 11 2009 and was available on the now defunct game of the Art website the sequel was intended to be an action Co-op RPG that aimed to take everything that was fun about Brotherhood of Steel and crank it all up to 11. it would feature new weapons monsters player characters quests and story lines along with a reputation system that allowed for both good and bad alignment although the game was designed to be a linear the choice of player character and reputation would influence encounters and determine available quests like its predecessor Phobos 2 was to be set in the post-apocalyptic Texas you play as a Brotherhood of Steel squad leader tasked with investigating an energy surge in South Texas you and your team then get ambushed by The Jackal Raider gang where they beat you strip you of your armor and leave you for dead however Harold yes that Herald happens upon you and heals you up bringing you to the game's first location a truck stop from here you're pretty much on a wild goose chase after the Jackal leader that defeated you a man named banshee Hugo settlement to settlement until you eventually happen Upon A brotherhood stronghold in Fort Worth that's currently Under Siege by Banshee and his jackals there you defeat Banshee but not before he defeats former Phobos player character Cyrus before dying Banshee hands over a key to Vault 39 saying that all the answers you're looking for are there before Banshee can reveal more information he explodes yep he just blows up in Vault 39 you learn that a man named Miles Reese despises the brothers of Steel and employed Banshee and his Jackal gang to attack the Brotherhood and steal their technology a map shows that he's moving south towards Austin new Goose Chase Begins you go from Austin to San Antonio to Austin again and then to Corpus Christi it's in Corpus Christi or the corpse as it's called in-game that you confront Rhys Risa explains that his goal was to destroy the Brotherhood and their technology and then use the Vault 39 super Geck to restart the Wasteland as the hero of the story you defeat Reese overload the Geck and as the design document puts it get the hell out of Dodge before it all gets blown to Hell roll credits Fallout Brotherhood of Steel 2 was officially canceled in 2004. like some of the other previously mentioned games it was likely due to financial concerns but that's not all a combination of the game's poor reception its lack of influence from the developers of the classic games and a legal dispute regarding the use of another company's game engine likely influenced its canning as well project v13 slash followed online now let's dive into the very complex very messy story of Fallout online codenamed project v13 for some context interplay entertainment was facing significant financial difficulties in 2004 burden by mounting debts interplay sold a three-game license to Bethesda softworks Bethesda initiated limited development of Fallout 3 after acquiring this exclusive license agreement however the licensing Arrangement failed to fully resolve interplay's Financial woes with bankruptcy looming and an involuntary bankruptcy order issued interplay announced its plans to develop a followed MMO in hopes of turning the company's fortunes around in an effort to secure additional funding interplay sold the entire Fallout IP to Bethesda softworks through an asset purchase agreement in 2007. a second agreement a trademark license agreement would allow interplay lead right to develop followed on a line the agreement included specific conditions that interplay had to fulfill in order to retain their license for the followed MMO notably interplay had to initiate development within two years of the purchasing agreement secure 30 million dollars in funding within that time frame launch the game after four years of development and pay Bethesda 12 of sales and subscription fees it was a tall task indeed now pay attention to the timeline it's quite important interplay re-established in-house development in 2007. in 2008 the studio Enlisted the help of a followed fan artist to create concept art in February 2009 Masthead Studios a Bulgarian game developer approached interplay and offered to assist with the development of project v13 interplay presented a 90-second gameplay video to the Masthead team in March 2009 by early April 2009 interplay announced that its in-house team and Masthead would collaborate to complete the development of project v13 however the two-year funding and development Windows specified in the Bethesda purchasing agreement was rapidly closing on April 15 2009 Bethesda announced its intention to rescind The Fallout license for the MMO claiming that interplay had failed to commence full-scale development and secure funding by the agreed-upon date interplay disputed these allegations and refused to Halt development in response Bethesda filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against interplay in the Maryland District Court on September 8 2009. Bethesda also sought a motion to Halt interplace development of the Fallout MMO until the case concluded but this motion was denied allowing interplay to continue development in turn interplay filed a counter motion arguing that the Fallout MMO license was invalid thereby rendering the entire purchasing agreement invalid making interplay the owners of The Fallout IP once again faced with an impasse interplay and Bethesda would solve their dispute in the courts so we had a good old court case on her hands Bethesda softworks LLC fee interplay entertainment Corporation the case aimed to answer several key questions were the two licensing agreements valid and independent of each other if they followed MMO license was valid was Bethesda justified in revoking it in other words did interplay secure funding and engage in full-scale development prior to the agreed upon date and if both agreements were deemed invalid who would own the rights to Fallout the case involved complex arguments and unfortunately it would require its own dedicated video to explain in detail however I do want to just highlight a few key arguments one interplay claimed that the Fallout license was too vague and therefore should not be upheld by extension they argued that the entire purchasing agreement should be invalidated returning the followed IP to interplay two Bethesda employed the classic defense of well you guys are the ones who signed it and contended that the followed MMO license was merely in name lacking iconic elements such as super mutants power armor and iconic characters and lastly interplay had the burden of proof regarding funding and development but failed to present any testimony from Masthead employees to confirm that the game was in full-scale development ultimately a settlement was reached on January 10 2012. the terms of the settlement included Bethesda paying 2 million dollars to interplay interplay relinquishing all final copies of past Fallout games and source code to Bethesda the termination of the Fallout MMO license interplay surrendering all claims to the followed franchise interplay being allowed to continue selling older Fallout titles until the end of 2013 and all work on Fallout online or project v13 ceasing with the domain being handed over to Bethesda followed online was no more and Bethesda became the sole owner of the Fallout franchise however interestingly enough interplay continued to promote project B13 throughout 2012 even after the court settlement then on December 20th 2012 it was announced that project v13 or followed online would be canceled in favor of another project bearing the same name project v13 part 2. the entire Fallout online Sega is undoubtedly one of the messiest stories I've encountered during my research with Bethesda now the sole owner of the Fallout IP this is technically the only title that isn't a canceled followed project but it is the zombified remains of a followed project so I'm gonna count it okay it's December 20th 2012. all hope for a followed MMO game has been completely erased but then you check the interplay website and you see this what the heck a new game project v13 isn't dead and buried and what's that it's gonna be a black owl Studios game too I love those guys games Jason Anderson Leonard boyarsky Tim Kaine Chris Avalon Jesse heineck those guys made some great games what's that now it's just Chris Taylor and Mark green no other original team members returned well that is a bit concerning but surely interplay a company that had teetered on the brink of bankruptcy for a decade and the remnants of their in-house developer could still deliver a quality game right well they sure can with your help interplay and black owl Studios just needed a bit of money from crowdsourcing plenty of great games have been crowdsourced so it can't be that bad right well if you read a bit about the project on their website you'll learn that your money isn't even going towards the finished product rather they'll be using your dollars to make a prototype or proof of concept how utterly BS is that contributing money couldn't even get you the game it would only provide access to the forums and a shiny badge to Showcase how much you had paid it was a big ask from a company that fumbled the followed IP for the last decade as you might have expected the project never really went anywhere despite still accepting donations through much of 2014 the last update regarding project v13 came on January 3rd 2014. since then there has been complete silence the 210 people that contributed were not going to get their six thousand six hundred and thirty dollars back the second iteration of project v13 just turned out to be an abysmal money grubbing scheme orchestrated by a once reputable company you hate to see it what's that one Batman quote you can either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain yeah that seems like it fits nicely here thank you and that concludes the tale of fallout's many canceled projects what one started as a genre defining computer game in the late 90s exploded into a massive franchise however after a highly successful sequel to the original Fallout the franchise started to encounter some obstacles or reception of spin-off games and financial difficulties brought this remarkable property to a halt although prototypes and concepts for new games were in the works they couldn't revive a struggling interplay entertainment with mounting debts The Fallout IP was ultimately sold to Bethesda softworks but before bidding farewell interplay made a final attempt at a Resurgence resulting in a lawsuit and a disappointing cash grab that sealed the fate of the once great interplay entertainment thanks for listening if you liked the video be sure to share and subscribe have a good rest of your day cheers Institute still exists that we are among you it is true but it is not the whole truth we're here and we are

Channel: N_orte

Views: 35,706

Keywords: fallout, fallout lore, norte, n_orte, gaming, gaming lore, cancelled fallout, cancelled, fallout projects, cut fallout, cut content fallout, van buren, fallout brotherhood of steel, fallout movie, fallout tactics 2, fallout 4, fallout ip, interplay, fallout franchise history, fallout cancelled projects, project v13, interplay entertainment, fallout prototype, gaming history, gaming industry, fallout mmo, cancelled fallout games, video game development, fallout series

Id: HG78e0IrNNk

Length: 27min 27sec (1647 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 12 2023