For the second time, Bethesda snaps up Fallout London and poaches a developer. But the head of the team stays on board despite the offer.
The latest news about Fallout: London is really positive: The huge mod project will actually be released in 2023 and take players to the post-apocalyptic capital of Great Britain. There was even a new trailer that gave a first insight into the various facets of the game world.
So all is well with Fallout: London? Not quite, because the team behind the ambitious Total Conversion has to announce another loss. Ryan Johnson, the previous lead technical adviser, is leaving the team – and moving to Fallout and Starfield developer Bethesda, of all places.
Two offers from Bethesda – but only one hits
It’s not the first time Bethesda has helped itself to the Fallout: London mod team. Back in August 2021, the US developer snagged the story writer behind Fallout: London, where she has since become a quest designer.
In recent weeks, Bethesda has once again attempted to poach her, as the mod developers themselves announced via Twitter. One of them is the aforementioned Ryan Johnson, who will now work for Bethesda as a level designer. In addition, Dean Carter, the boss behind Fallout: London, had also received an offer – but rejected it after careful consideration.
We have a few very special and bittersweet announcements for you all today.
Please read: pic.twitter.com/nZihjqSifH
– Fallout London (@FalloutLondon) June 30, 2022
While Johnson will soon be working permanently for Bethesda, Carter decided not to leave the team before the release of the mod. According to the press release, it was not easy to turn down a lifelong dream to continue working on a project for free, but Carter would do this for the community and the team.
In the same breath, Johnson is wished continued luck and success in his new job – and hopes that perhaps an Easter Egg or two on his site will make it into future Bethesda games.
What are the implications for the mod?
Meanwhile, the development of Fallout: London should not be too affected by the change. Johnson had already communicated his desire to change to the team at a very early stage and had completed additional tasks in the last few weeks. The team can now continue to work on the completion of Fallout: London without any problems.
After all, the project is expected to be released as a mod for Fallout 4 in 2023. This would mean that the total conversion would be released well before Fallout 5. Bethesda recently confirmed the existence of Fallout 5, but it will probably be a very long time before it is published!
Two poached talents and a third attempt: Apparently Bethesda is quite convinced about Fallout: London. Do you agree or do you think that such a project will suffer from the bloodletting? Let us know what you think in the comments!
