Bethesda has capitalised heavily on the success of the hit TV show Fallout by updating Fallout 4 and raking in sales. However, in a somewhat small-minded move, by rolling out the next-gen upgrade to Fallout 4, the years of hard work on Fallout London have been made almost redundant, causing huge delays to the long-awaited mod.
A long and complex process
Just two days after the free, community-made mod for Fallout 4 was supposed to be released, Bethesda announced a complete overhaul to the current game. Now, for a lot of people, this seems like a fantastic thing. However, for the modding community, it is devastating.
When a big update like this is rolled out, it makes many of the current mods for Fallout 4 redundant until they are updated to the new engine. This is the case with many of the community mods that make up the vast and detailed Fallout London. With a planned release for April 23, the update to Fallout 4 meant that the whole expansion needed to be reworked before release.
In an interview with the BBC, the lead designer on Fallout London seemed very put out by the decision. Although he understands that the mod is an unofficial one, he knows that Bethesda is very aware of it and the following it has garnered. He says that he is sure it wasn’t malicious, but a little communication could have gone a long way.
How long will the delays to Fallout London be?
Dean Carter of Team Falon is understandably annoyed by the developments with Fallout 4, but he and his team are working to remedy the issues that have arisen. Of course, the current Fallout London mod could be released now with the expectation of players who want to use it not to update their game. However, this isn’t what he or the rest of the team wants.
Fallout London will be released when it is ready. The team doesn’t want to rush or release a half-baked mod for the fans. Bethesda does that enough already. Here’s looking at you, Fallout 76. So, with the latest next-gen update, the team at Fallout London will have to meticulously review all the combined mods and ensure they run as expected.
The Fallout London team is unable to give a definite time scale on when Fallout London will actually be ready for release. In numerous interviews he has spoken about just how important the integrity and pride of his team is. There are thousands of elements and combined mods to work through, and they will not be happy to release the game until it is completely ready for the keen fans.
Of course, this news is frustrating, no more so for the Fallout London dev team. So, if you want to blame anyone, blame Bethesda’s shortsightedness.
