Fallout showrunner says game developer Todd Howard had only one rule for the TV show

With Bethesda’s Todd Howard involved in producing the Fallout TV series, you may have expected the game director – who has helmed multiple Fallout titles – to be hands-on in his approach to the adaptation.

Not so, according to co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet. She tells SFX magazine in the new issue, which features Star Trek: Discovery season 5 on the cover, that Howard only wanted to ensure the Prime Video series didn’t contradict any major game endings.

With the Fallout TV show taking place years (and, in some cases, decades) after the events of the games, it’s clear that the series was only ever interested in treading new ground out in the wasteland.

“We felt like that would be the best thing to honor the gamer’s experiences, and the most truthful,” producer Lisa Joy explains of Fallout’s approach to opting for an original story over adapting one from the classic RPG series. 

“If we adapted one specific game, it would not have actually been truthful because it’s an open world game and everyone’s experience is different. So had we taken any of the setups of any of the games and just done it ‘straightforwardly’, a lot of gamers would be like, ‘That’s not the order that I played it in.'”

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Fallout is streaming on Prime Video from April 11. The above is just a snippet from our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Star Trek: Discovery season 5 on the cover and is available on newsstands from Wednesday, March 20. For even more from SFX, sign up to our newsletter, which delivers all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.