No, Bethesda isn’t shadow-dropping Fallout 3 and New Vegas Remasters any time soon — here’s what we know.

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Just to temper expectations, the much-talked-about Fallout remakes aren’t coming out anytime soon. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

A few weeks ago, I shared a report detailing Xbox’s plans for 2026, including the news that both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are being remade. While the Fallout 3 remake was previously revealed in leaked documents from the Activision-Blizzard FTC case, the remake of New Vegas was a more recent development I learned from my sources.

It’s no surprise that the Fallout TV show is a massive success, and the second season will primarily take place in and around New Vegas and the Mojave Desert. I’ve also heard that Bethesda’s remake of Oblivion, called Oblivion Remastered, was very well-received within the company, even surpassing their own expectations.

Remakes of Fallout 3 and New Vegas seem inevitable, regardless of any leaks. The big question now is: when will they actually be released?

Fallout fans recently spotted updates to the Steam pages for Fallout 3 and New Vegas, with some players reporting missing game files. This sparked rumors that remakes or updated versions of the games might be released unexpectedly, similar to how the remastered version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was launched. With an Xbox Developer_Direct event happening this week, and a history of the event showcasing games from Bethesda (which makes Fallout), many believe an announcement could be coming soon.

The official website for Amazon’s Fallout TV series recently featured some mysterious countdown timers, leading many fans to speculate about a surprise announcement for a new Fallout game, possibly Fallout 3 or New Vegas. However, I can definitively say that these timers are not connected to any upcoming Fallout games.

I’ve heard that the Steam pages for Fallout 3 and New Vegas are showing some updates, but it’s just for translations in different languages. It doesn’t mean remakes or remastered versions of those games are about to be unexpectedly released.

I’ve heard that full remakes of Fallout 3 and New Vegas are still quite a ways off – don’t expect them anytime soon. I’m working on getting a clearer timeline for their release, but currently it looks like a remastered version of Fallout 3 will come out before the New Vegas remake.

Both Microsoft and Bethesda appear to have been surprised by the recent boom in popularity for the Fallout series. The new Fallout TV show, updates to Fallout 76, and the celebration of Fallout 4’s anniversary, along with the game being available on Xbox Play Anywhere, have caused a significant increase in players across all Fallout titles.

Bethesda has been very busy lately. They’re developing the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls VI and also creating significant updates for Starfield.

Watching Bethesda after Starfield, I get the sense they’re really hoping to avoid a repeat of the disappointment some players felt – especially considering the huge expectations set by a game like Skyrim. Fallout 4 also faced criticism for moving away from the deep roleplaying that defined earlier games, focusing more on just being a big, open world to explore. And let’s not forget the rocky start Fallout 76 had, though it’s in a much better place now. It seems like they’re extra careful about how people will react to their next release.

In recent interviews, Todd Howard, head of Bethesda, revealed the studio is putting more resources into the Fallout series than ever before. He also voiced his approval of releasing smaller games with little to no advance warning – a tactic they previously used successfully with Hi-Fi Rush (though that game and studio were later sold to Krafton). While Fallout 4 had a relatively short time between announcement and release, Bethesda’s Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls game have faced significantly longer and more frustrating delays.

So, it sounds like Fallout 5 is probably a long way off! I’ve heard that the major update coming to Starfield isn’t just for that game – it’s actually a bunch of improvements to Bethesda’s game engine. And those improvements? They could be laying the groundwork for what we’ll see in both Elder Scrolls VI *and* the next Fallout game. Pretty exciting to think about, even if it means a bit of a wait!

Okay, so we’re not getting a brand new Fallout game *right* away, which is a bummer. But honestly, there’s still a ton to keep us busy! We’ve got the Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, massive mods like Fallout London that are basically new experiences, and Fallout 76 is still getting updated. Plus, they’re planning remasters of Fallout 3 and New Vegas! When you look at it all, that’s actually a pretty awesome amount of Fallout content coming our way.

I’m just speculating, but I think a remastered version of Fallout 3 could be released this year. It’ll probably be similar to the Oblivion remaster—likely using the Unreal Engine to update the graphics while still keeping the core gameplay of the original Creation Engine, with some possible improvements to the combat system.

I’m still working on getting the specifics – like release dates and exactly what’s included in these remasters. However, I’ve been assured they won’t be released suddenly without warning. We might see them announced or released around Xbox’s June gaming event, but it’s too early to say for sure.

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2026-01-20 23:40