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Here is the current lineup for Post Apocolyptia:

Up and coming:

*Fallout: New Vegas - Obsidion (with 7 original Fallout series developers on staff)
Fallout 4 - Bethesda
Vault 13 - Interplay - (with 2 original Fallout series members on staff, 1 is a developer)
Wasteland - InXile - (with 2 original Fallout series members on staff, 1 is a developer)

And more Bethesda:

*Bethesda announced more Oblivion DLC coming out this year
*Bethesda announced TESV next year
*Bethesda announced more Fallout 3 DLC this year

(And we still don't know what Bethesda's Secret Project is)







** Original Post:

I heard Interplay has been touring Europe presenting (I am assuming a vid of V13, their projected Fallout MMO) to prospective investors trying to drum up 75 million dollars. They have till the end of March before they have to file their quarterly report, proving they have come up with 30 million (or it reverts back to Bethesda). Will they make it in time?

Also, Jason Anderson left Interplay March 19, would he leave if they were going to get to do the MMO? He has gone to InXile to work on Wasteland 2 with Brian, who he worked with on the original Fallouts. That leaves only Chris Taylor from the original staff still at Interplay to work on the Fallout MMO if they get the 30 million they need.

Who do you think will get to make the MMO, and who would you like to see get to make it; Bethesda or Interplay?

You heard correct. (probably).

I have no idea, is the answer to your first question. They have had some investor interest though, so there is a chance, however great or small that may be.

Why would anyone want to stay with the old Interplay when they could move over to the new Interplay? I don't think JA's decision was based on the success of the MMO, although it does look bleak, I think his decision was a far more professional and career driven one. I feel sorry that the Taylor is left holding the MMO as the last best hope of humanity, but I'm sure he understand's JAs decision completely.

Bethesda wouldn't make an MMO, Zenimax would if anyone. I'd like Chris Taylor to come out on top against all odds, and I'd much prefer it in his hands than anyone elses. But I'm not too bothered about picking a company, I'm not really biased toward either, but I'm definitely all for original development.

I was surprised whe Chris Taylor and Jason Anderson were out on the market (between jobs) that Bethesda didn't scoop them up! (since they had the Fallout franchise now it would have made sense, and they were hiring everyone else in the video game industry at the time these two were free agents). I guess Bethesda wanted to play fair and give Interplay a chance to do it. I thought since Bethesda bought Splash Damage that they would do the MMO, but you are probably right.

Personally, I think anything Fallout related is better in the hands of Interplay. I'm still unsure about the idea of a Fallout MMO in general, but there's nothing I can do about it except hope that it turns out good. I'd also rather Bethesda start making great single-player games again, rather than an MMO. It would be too out there for me to see an MMO with Bethesda's name on the box.

Well they partnered with Splash Damage, who is a big name in online.

Sorry everyone, I just saw this topic has already been started. I tried to change the name on it to Interplay, but can't figure out how to change the title. I apologize.

From the looks of it, online shooters. Not MMO's. Even if Bethesda were to make an MMO, I think they'd do so much better if they made the rumored Elder Scrolls Online. At least It'd be their own series. Starting a new genre(MMO) with a new series(Fallout)? Sounds like it's bound to fail regardless of the company. If ES Online were to be made and was successful, I could then see them making a Fallout MMO. That's assuming Interplay fails to make it themselves.

Jason said he prefers to work on single-player cRPGs, rather than MMOs. He was with Fallout Online during the concept stage, when he probably worked on the game's setting, but then moved on.



They didn't buy SD, they're just cooperating with them on one unannounced game.

Yes, I agree. When I first started playing Fallout 3, I thought it was a cross-over between an RPG and a shooter; well I never played a shooter before so that was how it felt to me. I guess it might be more like Operation Anchorage, maybe.

I wouldn't mind it if it was co-op play with only like 2-4 players in co-operation with eachother; you could wear a headset and talk to your friends while playing, etc. That would work on both Xbox Live, the PS3, and PC. I think I would really like it that way.

I think they said a "long term developing partnership," leading one to believe it was more along the lines of a merger.

It's not a merger nor takeover. They're simply going to publish a game or series of game by Splash Damage, nothing more than that.

I think they said a "long term developing partnership,"

Here is a quote from what Jason Anderson said when first leaving Interplay to go to InXile:

"The future of the Fallout MMO - codenamed Project V13 - isn't so rosy," Anderson hinted to Gamasutra.
"The future of the - well, I don't know if I want to go there. InXile was a more stable opportunity," he said. Even so, "It was a very hard decision to leave Project V13. I loved the project, and we spent so much time on it, and it was not an easy decision to make."

We didn't need Jason to confirm both the stability of Interplay and PV13 under their development. That has been painfully obvious for a while now

They did, but it has nothing to do with a merger nor takeover. SD will develop game(s), Bethesda will publish, but it doesn't mean one is owned by the other. They had a long-term partnership with id Software before.



Yes, but he also said that him liking single-player cRPGs more than MMOPRGs was another factor.

i want bethesda to do it..then cause they did fallout 3 and i loved it...interplay should stop holding onto it..in the time taken to get some money and start working "if they have the time" they could of started a brand new game

Screw Bethesda, hell screw Interplay for that matter. The only reason Interplay have my vote is because they have the Taylor. Wherever he's at, I'm at

agreed.

He might have left if he decided that an MMO wasn't the proper venue for his ideas. An MMO isn't really the medium to make complex games.

I don't usually like mmo's so it will be interesting to see how this turns out..

Given their history, I don't expect much from IP.
I love FO so much I'd be willing to try it out though.
As for Beth doing an MMO?
I think they could do a very good job but they could also fall flat on their face.
I think that FO3 kind of teeters on the brink.
They did an excellent job with the tools they have at hand.
They've shown they can do the FO name justice.
Now they just need to update their tools i.e. dump HAVOK.

Earlier this week I wrote quite a lengthy article about Interplay and raised the question of what direction are they heading. Interplay has been quick to respond, but unfortunately not directly.

This week Interplay (OTC.BB:IPLY) sent out a press release announcing to all they have formed a partnership with Masthead Studios to develop Project: V13, their not very secret MMOG. This partnership has been agreed under a "binding letter of intent" which will see Interplay providing the funding for development of Project: V13. While this is progress toward seeing a MMOG from Interplay become reality, they have yet to announce that they have secured the required $30 million to brand the MMOG as Fallout. Yes they can change aspects of the game and call it Shmallout but the APA excludes them from having Vaults or similar set ups to the Fallout universe. The list of items that Interplay cannot use is fairly extensive:

"?without limitation any Fallout artwork, locations, graphic representations, story lines, creatures, monsters, names, likenesses, behaviors, environments (e.g., vaults), universes, settings, legends, characters, character classes, character professions, packaging, advertisemants, text and translations, and any and all Fallout proprietary characters, trademarks, copyrights and artwork ?"

So the whole Project Vault 13 thing may require a re-think that V really stands for Vault. Luckily Interplay is teamed with Masthead Studios, who interestingly enough is currently developing their own post-apocalyptic MMOG called Earthrise, so it's not clear at this point if Project: V13 is completely independent from Earthrise. Why would a studio develop their own competition? Speculation leads to Earthrise being either almost complete, or going to be incorporated with Project: V13. Either way Project: V13 will be coming to life, hopefully Interplay uses the plethora of suggestions thrown at them on their forums.

This all still leaves open the question of will Interplay announce they have the financing for to keep the Fallout name attached? I find it odd Interplay have announced this partnership, funding for it, and have yet to announce the financing for the MMOG so close to the deadline. Is this just to start up the hype train? I'm curious to see how the funding for this partnership is appearing, but to know for sure we will have to wait for Interplay to post their financials. My shot in the dark is Interplay announces Masthead funding, ditches the Fallout funding because 30 million is a lot of debt and ZeniMax makes the Fallout MMOG. Personally I hope for a Fallout MMOG and another one or two new IP's coming out of this.

Lot's to speculate here, hit up the comments with what you think.

Thanks to mw for the tip!


Full Press Release Below:

Interplay and Masthead Studios to Jointly Develop Massively Multiplayer Online Game

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., April 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ ? Interplay Entertainment Corp. (OTCBulletinBoard: IPLY) announced today that the company has signed a binding letter of intent with Masthead Studios to fund the development of a Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG), code named "Project: V13."

The game has been in design and development at Interplay since November 2007. Masthead and Interplay teams will work together under the direction and control of Interplay to complete development of the project.

As a part of the agreement, the game will utilize Masthead's proprietary tools and MMOG technology developed for Masthead's "Earthrise" project.

Commenting on the announcement, Interplay Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Herve Caen said, "We are looking forward to turning the vision of our game designers into a compelling online gaming experience. The planning and design completed for Project: V13 thus far, combined with Masthead's resources, tools, and growing team of dedicated MMOG developers, will bring this unique game to reality."

Masthead Studios President Atanas Atanasov said, "This arrangement is ideal because it leverages the technology our professionals have specifically built for advanced Massively Multiplayer Online Games into what we expect will be a groundbreaking Interplay gaming title."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

zezzo, said:"i want bethesda to do it..then cause they did fallout 3 and i loved it..."

Yeah, I totally agree.
And I can't wait, to see the bad Tenpenny:s fighting of in massive numbers against the good Megaton:s in the middle waste!!:)...

Assuming the MMO is based anywhere near D.C, using Bethesdas canon. I doubt it

Yeah, you may be right! but just imagine, how beautiful it would be..! :flamethrower: :gun:

Whether it was made by Bethesda or not (although it would be Zenimax that makes it, as they have an MMO department) it would be in their best interest to use a different engine, as the Gamebryo engine is suited for single player. It would need to be retooled to support an MMO, and they would take unnecessary time and resources to accomplish. Plus if you've seen the Earthrise screen shots you'll get an idea of the capabilities of the engine that's being used for the current Fallout MMO project. And from what I've seen, it looks pretty sweet. I also like the Idea of new physics, the Havok physics Bethesda use seem quite flawed, I'm sick of tapping a skeleton (or any object) and watching it spaz out for a second before it decides to rest naturally