Interplay releases Fallout MMO art

By Oli Welsh Published 2 November, 2009

They are making one. Honest.

Interplay has released some concept art images for its Fallout MMO in an effort to prove that the game is actually being made.

The art can be viewed at the forums for the game, codenamed Project V13. You need to be a registered member to view it - otherwise, GameSpot has it.

The art has been released "due to the lawsuit", according to developer Chris Taylor, who worked on the original Fallout games at Interplay. He's referring to the legal spat between Interplay and Bethesda, to whom Interplay sold the rights to Fallout in 2004.

Bethesda went on to release the phenomenally successful Fallout 3, but Interplay retained the rights to make an online game - provided it actually entered "full-scale development". Bethesda contends this didn't happen.

Interplay is countersuing Bethesda over various merchandising rights issues, claiming that it has lost money in the deal. The struggling publisher recently contracted Bulgarian studio Masthead, currently making its own post-apocalyptic MMO Eathrise, to work on the Fallout MMO.

The art shows some post-apocalyptic landscapes, a guy wearing goggles and carrying guns, and plenty of brown. There are cacti, abandoned industrial complexes and a habitat made out of a piece of aeroplane fuselage.

It all looks very Fallout, but however "full-scale" the development of this game is, we doubt the lawsuits are helping it get made.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (9) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Digital_Forge #1 2 years ago

    This is going to be one of those games that never arrives isn't it, it looks great with lots of potential, a huge fan base, yet a willy waving contest with lawyers will just throw it into the pit of obscurity.

  • gorf #2 2 years ago

    mmm, art concepts does not maketh evidence of full scale game in production.must be a bitteer pill to swallow for interplay to sell yhe rights to bethedesa who then make a mint out of Fallout 3.

  • NorUraeus #3 2 years ago

    Uhm, so after 5 years of 'full scale development' all they have to show is some concept art? I guess full scale doesn't mean what it used to.

  • thedaveeyres #4 2 years ago

    You can't sell the golden goose then go sneaking back into the chicken coop to steal the eggs.

    ;)

  • Al_Swearengen #5 2 years ago

    Considering Interplay's net worth is basically nothing I'm suprised Bethesda doesn't just offer to buy them out. Then the game can finally be made, Interplay can develop it with Bethesda funding then Bethesda / Zenimax publish it.
    Everyone's a winner, petit dejeuner!

  • Murton #6 2 years ago

    Must be a real kicker for Interplay to have sold possibly the biggest RPG franchise ever to Bethesda, who not only seriously diluted the RPG side of things but also released what seemed to be beta code onto the market. Never have I played a game with so many bugs/issues and certainly not one that crashes as often as Fallout 3 did. If only there was a reviewer with the balls to talk about build quality...

    As as V13 goes, I'd like to see a Fallout based MMO as much as the next guy but with everyone making a Post-Apocalypse game right now this is going to feel no so much like a late arrival to the party as someone who missed that party altogether. Might be best for Interplay to just yield to Bethesda and try to hold onto as many of the gains from any MMO release as they can and begin working on some new IPs.

  • mega7ech #7 2 years ago

    "certainly not one that crashes as often as Fallout 3"

    Ive often heard folk moaning about how F3 crashed "x" many times for them. I played F3 for well over 200 hours with all five dlc and honestly not once did I have the game crash on me - I guess I must just of been lucky.

  • SAMagic #8 2 years ago

    @Al_Swearengen: Interplay were worth nothing a few years ago but their sale of IP (I think it was FallOut 3 and some other stuff) presumably boosted them up by several million. I'm sure Bethesda could probably buy them out _now_ but they likely don't want (or need) any more of their franchises. I don't know where the legal issue with Bethesda is going, judging by arguments on certain forums it seems that it's more complex than what is presented in news articles. My money would be on Bethesda at any rate.

    As for FO3 and bugs, I barely encountered any at all on my X360 and clocked up over 80 hours through the main story then 3 lots of the DLC. I can certainly think of far buggier games out there. :)

  • Diogo_Ribeiro #9 2 years ago

    "It all looks very Fallout"

    Except the idea of having millions of Vault Dwellers in the Wasteland.