"Fallout: Zero" Prequel Unites Fans As Perfect Next Game

2 days ago 3

Published Feb 1, 2026, 12:00 AM EST

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People won't stop talking about Fallout 5 at the moment. And if they're not talking about Fallout 5, they're talking about the Fallout 3 remaster that is almost certainly releasing later this year. How about, instead of focusing on what Fallout's future might be, we went back to the very beginning?

I'm sure you all know how the world of Fallout came to be. Bombs drop, chaos ensues. In the Fallout games players typically end up exploring the world hundreds of years after the nuclear war wipes out most of the planet, which is great! It's how we end fighting Supermutants and Deathclaws and taking on sidequests given to us by mutated trees. However, Fallout fans are united by the idea of a new game that takes place in the first year after those bombs drop, and I'm here for it.

Fallout Zero Sounds Kind Of Awesome

Prequels don't always suck

Fallout 4 wanderer character and Dogmeat companion

Over on the Fallout subreddit, CretaceousClock pitched a game called Fallout Zero, which would take place during the first year of America being a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Fallout 4 gives us the briefest of looks at life just before the bombs dropped, but a game that explored the chaos that came right after sounds like a winner.

One obvious downside here is that Fallout Zero could be full of potential lore contradictions. I'd like to set my stall out right now and say I don't care. Like, at all. I kind of hate we've ended up in a world where every new release has to carefully stick to established canon so as not to annoy overzealous fans. If lore gets in the way of a good idea, shove that lore out of the way and tell your damn story!

As others on the Reddit thread point out, there's the potential for Fallout Zero to be completely unlike any other Fallout game. The confusion and chaos, the opportunity for different kinds of enemies... it could even be a slightly more linear game. Which is not to say I want all Fallout games to be more linear, but if we want something Fallout-shaped to play while we wait for Fallout 5, this could be a great fix.

It Might Not Be For Everyone

Well, I'm sold

The concept of Fallout Zero might not be for everyone, although I have to stress I really am sold and hope someone at Bethesda finds that Reddit thread and starts pitching.

"Could be an interesting linear game, but would disappoint most of the fan base," one fan argued. "Would be limited with the range of enemies."

Another added: "Fallout isn’t really that type of game. It’s a post-nuclear roleplaying series at heart. Bethesda exploring the pre-war world and the immediate aftermath of the great war would introduce far too many plot holes that would be impossible to balance with the tidbits of lore we’ve gotten over the past 25 years."

In other words, don't expect this to ever happen. But with Fallout 5 still years away, I'd be happy with any new Fallout I could get my hands on, even it was a radical departure from the norm.