While Fallout 76 is arguably the closest we will get to a fully-fledged wasteland MMO today, there was once a much more ambitious—and legally complicated—vision on the horizon. That project was the ill-fated, legally tangled Fallout Online.

The Rise and Fall of the Fallout Online Pitch

According to MMO veteran Matt Firor, the path to creating a massive multiplayer experience in the wasteland was nearly realized back in 2007. In a recent interview with the YouTube channel MinnMax, Firor detailed his attempt to assemble a team for the project following the 2006 buyout of his previous studio, Mythic, by EA.

Firor had secured some promised investment and was pitching to a publisher known as Brash Entertainment. However, that momentum vanished quickly:

  • Brash Entertainment only existed for about six weeks during that timeframe.
  • Firor was in direct talks with the head of Interplay, the publisher behind Fallout 1 and 2.
  • The project had a design, a budding team, and an emerging budget.

The momentum came to a sudden halt when communication vanished. "He just went totally dark on me, wouldn't return calls or emails," Firor noted. Just four weeks later, the headlines broke: Bethesda had acquired the rights to Fallout.

From Fallout Ambitions to The Elder Scrolls Online

The loss of the project redirected Firor’s career toward another legendary franchise. After the Fallout Online opportunity evaporated, Firor went on to found ZeniMax Studios, eventually serving as director before leaving the studio in 2025 following the Microsoft acquisition and the cancellation of his project, Project Blackbird.

Instead of the wasteland, Firor focused his expertise on Tamriel. He led the development of The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), which was released in 2014 after a lengthy seven-year development cycle. While he didn't lead a Fallout MMO, he did maintain a connection to the franchise.

"I'm in the special thanks in Fallout 76, I got other credits," Firor mentioned. He attributed this more to his personal connection to the setting—having grown up in West Virginia—rather than professional advice. Despite the missed opportunity, Firor remains a fan of the current direction: "It's in totally good hands... I love that game."

The Legal Battle Over the Fallout IP

The failure of Fallout Online was ultimately due to a protracted legal war between Bethesda and Interplay. While Bethesda had acquired rights to the IP in 2004 for Fallout 3 and again in 2007 for the wholesale IP, Interplay retained the specific right to develop an MMO.

This led to a massive legal confrontation:

  1. In 2009, Bethesda sued Interplay, claiming they failed to secure necessary funding to begin development.
  2. The initial court ruling favored Interplay, allowing them to continue working on the title for a time.
  3. The "legal slapfight" continued until 2012, when an out-of-court settlement finally stripped Interplay of their rights to develop a Fallout MMO entirely.

Ultimately, Firor may have dodged a bullet by avoiding the legal chaos that eventually sank the original vision for the project.