Interplay: Fallout Online launch in 2012

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 22 October, 2010

Bethesda "miss a lot of the humour".

Long-in development MMO Fallout Online will launch in the second half of 2012, Interplay has promised.

In an interview with Edge magazine Interplay president Eric Caen said 2012 will also see a Fallout Online beta.

Caen's comments will no doubt reassure fans troubled by the legal dispute between Interplay and Fallout 3 creator Bethesda over the game.

As the tussle continues, we've still not seen an actual screenshot or video from Fallout Online.

The company has so far refrained from showing much from the game because "anything we show will help Bethesda in their fight", Caen said.

"I can't say too much. What I can say is that everyone who is registered is getting a newsletter every five or six weeks.

"The content is not a typical newsletter with a lot of technical information; it's letters from NPCs about what they're experiencing. We're giving a lot of hints about the future of the game. We have a beta scheduled for 2012, with the commercial launch in the second half of 2012.

"We have 90 people working on it. Even in January 2009, you were already able to move across the world." Caen also commented on Bethesda's Fallout 3.

"What I can say is that of course we're playing what Bethesda is doing. We appreciate some portions of it, and we're not necessarily fans of everything. I think they miss a lot of the humour, and the fans seem to agree with that.

"Fallout 3 was a little bit too serious – that's definitely not where we're going. Our Fallout MMOG will be extremely funny. At the same time, an MMOG must be a lot deeper than a standalone game. It's not a shooting game we're making. You can shoot, but it's a very small portion of the game. The game itself is about reconstructing the world.

"What is unique about our project is how we're trying to get it into many communication systems. This is a big problem for World of Warcraft, because the fantasy universe is not compatible with modern communication systems. It would be odd to receive an SMS from a troll. But in a post-apocalyptic world..."

Interplay plans to have a million subscribers, Caen revealed.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • kinky_mong #1 2 years ago

    "What I can say is that of course we're playing what Bethesda is doing. We appreciate some portions of it, and we're not necessarily fans of everything. I think they miss a lot of the humour, and the fans seem to agree with that."

    Urgh! *spits* These grapes you've given me... *spits* ...too sour! *retch*

  • asharkman #2 2 years ago

    Interplay used to make class star trek games.

  • AbracadaverAK #3 2 years ago

    As far as I'm concerned, this doesn't exist until they release screenshots. If releasing them helps Bethesda then they're in trouble.

  • Petrarch #4 2 years ago

    Something doesn't add up. The mere fact they've just admitted that showing anything will help the case against them is far from encouraging. I'd not be too surprised now if the court orders them to produce what they don't want anyone seeing.

  • levitate #5 2 years ago

    They plan on a million subscribers? Core blimey, they better show us some good stuff first then.

  • Luk333 #6 2 years ago

    I really hope they'll be able to do something... something good. This is probably the last chance Interplay has at staying alive.

  • Darren #7 2 years ago

    Sounds intriguing, particularly that it doesn't focus on killing things as every other MMORPG does, and as others have said will likely be a lot less buggy than either Fallout 3 or New Vegas! Also I like humour in games so that's a plus!

  • Timbercottage #8 2 years ago

    Interplay - Nuclear war, now with hilarious funnies!

  • JudasBlitzkrieg #9 2 years ago

    It'd be strange to have two different developers releasing two entirely different games based on the same IP at the same time (I know NV is just out, but logic would dictate that in the back end of 2012 there should be another Bethesda Fallout game).

    Much as I still enjoy the old Interplay Fallout games, I don't think that an MMO would be that interesting to play if it remained with the 3rd person point and click interface, compared to the way the Bethesda games play. Interplay would have to pull something pretty special out of their arses to succeed in this little cold war

  • Shikasama #10 2 years ago

    The ultimate Fallout MMO would be something like Eve in which players are expected to band together and make their own rulesets and settlements and stuff.

    Please be absolutely nothing like Warcraft.

  • yoomazir #11 2 years ago

    meh, I think Interplay is all about talk but they probably have nothing concrete of a game, in the end it's all about trying to raise the price to sell the Fallout name.

  • Duchessprozac #12 2 years ago

    Having played the diabolical BoS game on the xbox (not Tactics) I can safely say I don't want the kind of humour Interplay will probably inject into the game.

  • mikeck #13 2 years ago

    "I can't say too much. What I can say is that everyone who is registered is getting a newsletter every five or six weeks.

    Has anybody else signed up and not received any newsletters? I signed up when the site first went live and have heard nothing since...

  • sink257 #14 2 years ago

    If it's anything close to Fallout 1 and 2 the game will be an insta-buy for me.

  • Rajin #15 2 years ago

    He sounds more paranoid and mad if you'd ask me:p(i kept picturing this guy in a corner with a flashlight in dirty clothes tinkering away at Fallout: MMO

    For all the love i once had for Interplay, this project just doesn't seem to have much of a chance. But i sure hope they can prove me wrong and make me subscribe for the game.

  • Skandalle #16 2 years ago

    Nuclear War - never been so much fun...

  • Moribundman #17 2 years ago

    I'm still cynical of this and agree entirely with kinky_mong.

    His condemnation of Bethesda for "not doing Fallout properly" is a bit poorly timed. Aside from the stupid number of bugs in the gold code, everyone has been highly congratulatory, praising the plot and humour, and Obsidians use of devs from the original Black Isle team.

    Not really following the story re the MMORPG but are Interplay using any of the original devs on their game? If not aren't they the "outsiders" now by default?

  • glaeken #18 2 years ago

    Don't Bethesda claim this game does not even exist? As I understand it Interplay need to demonstrate they are using the brand name in some way and the suggestion from Bethesda is the MMO is pure invention. The lack of any screen shots, any type of hands on reports and the late 2012 release all suggest to me Bethesda may be correct. The release date in particular looks like something plucked out of the air that is going to be long after any court case has been resolved. The smell of vapourware is strong in this one.

  • thesombrerokid #19 2 years ago

    Someone please kill this game and this publisher.

  • beatwolf #20 2 years ago

    hmmm why haven't i heard about this more than once before in sub obscure sub-headline...if you want a success better start building some hype.

  • AceDongface #21 2 years ago

    Why can't they just both make Fallout games? Oh, that's right! The Gods of I.P. must be appeased with wasted time and money on everyone's parts.

  • darc #22 2 years ago

    They're concerned about helping Bethesda? Let's face it, despite the loyal cult following the original Fallouts may have, a Fallout MMO in 2012 would have sold about 4 copies were it not for the renewed, mass-market attention FO3 and FONV have generated more recently. Whether they acknowledge it or not, each party is presently working PR for the other.

    "At the same time, an MMOG must be a lot deeper than a standalone game."

    Whaaaaa? I have a pile of MMO's that beg to differ.
    Edited by darc at 22/10/10 @ 19:03

  • HarryTuttle #23 2 years ago

    Eric and brother Hervé are the tossers that nearly destroyed fallout to begin with. After buying out Interplay they canned the original fallout 3 (codenamed Van Buren, google it if you like to read mass fan bitching) for the execrable abortion basket of a game that was brotherhood of steel and drove off all their development talent by being generally clueless cunts. They have no more claim on the soul of fallout than I have claim on Beyoncé's buttocks.

  • Phishfood #24 2 years ago

    Bring back crotch shots!

  • Superfast_Jellyfish #25 2 years ago

    Aren't the guys at Interplay the same guys that did Superman 64, just under a different company? I could be wrong