It was just the other day that I told PCG writer Ted Litchfield that I want a whole game—Museum of Mechanics: Lockpicking-style—that lets me walk through the ruins of all the doomed fan attempts to remake old games in a modern engine. KOTOR's Apeiron, that Resident Evil 2 redo, innumerable attempts to remake GoldenEye without attracting Nintendo's baleful gaze: They all went the way of the Dodo, lost to time.
Alas, there's one more for the pile. Fallout: Vault 13 was a fan project that sought to rebuild the original Fallout 1 in the hi-res, first-person skin of Fallout 4, but now it's pretty much dead. It actually looked like it was moving along pretty well. Just two months ago it got a demo showing off some of the game's early areas that was very well-received. Not, generally, the kind of thing you expect of a project just a month or two away from throwing in the towel.
But that's exactly what it's done. In a message on Discord, Fallout: Vault 13 co-lead culinwino posted: "We have decided to officially suspend development on Fallout: Vault 13. This was not an easy decision, but we believe it is the right step at this stage of our journey. I know this may come as unexpected news, and we sincerely apologize for any disappointment it may cause."
- After resuming work following a 'hold' in 2024, Fallout: Nuevo Mexico is now officially cancelled: 'The costs ahead, both financial and personal, are too great'
- The New Vegas remake of the Fallout 3 that never was just got its first demo, not to be confused with the straight-up remake of the cancelled Fallout 3 or, indeed, Fallout 3
Which is a bit of a bummer, but there's a silver lining. Culinwino says that "we will release a full build of Fallout: Vault 13 that includes all unfinished content" in the weeks to come, letting players root around the content that was already made and—just maybe—letting other modders pick up where the original team left off. It also sounds like the team has a kind of post-mortem in the works, promising "a retrospective that will take a look back at everything we’ve accomplished with Fallout: Vault 13, celebrating the highs, the lessons learned, and the passion that drove this project."
Which, if a project has to die, is probably the best way it can go. Plus, it sounds like the devs had good reason to pack things in. Despite the outward appearance of progress in the wake of the demo, culinwino says behind the scenes there was "burnout, difficulty in recruiting and retaining team members with niche skills, and personal life changes among core team members." They emphasise that the decision to call it quits wasn't due to "infighting" and there was no "cease and desist from Bethesda." It's just the way things shook out: "The decision was made to prioritize the well-being of project members."
Which is, I think, the correct decision. Still, if any team of passionate modders out there is hungry for a project, I wouldn't say no to someone else picking up the slack when culinwino and co release what they have so far.
