Summary
Ever since it was first announced, Rebellion Developments’Atomfallhas been compared closely toFallout. It’s an understandable conclusion to draw given the two titles' broad similarities on the surface. And whileAtomfallundoubtedly contains familiarFalloutvibes, it’s also looking to take big swings and experiment in some interesting ways. However, their shared elements do speak to a wider connection, andAtomfallmay very well be the beginning of a new movement.
It’s been nearly 10 years since the latest mainlineFalloutentry, with the next not likely to arrive until at least somewhere around 2029 and possibly beyond. But now that its release is just around the corner,Atomfallcould open the door for other studios to take notice and perhaps think about producing moregames treading a similar path toFallout, while expanding on some of its designs to impart their own ideas and takes on the genre alaAtomfallin the stretch of time between now andFallout 5.
Atomfallreleases on June 02, 2025.It will be available day one on Game Pass Ultimate.
Atomfall Should Open the Floodgates for a Wave of ‘Fallout-likes’
Fallout 5 Will Still Be a Long Time Coming
Falloutis often the poster child for the premiere post-apocalyptic AAA open-world experience. But the flip side to this is the amount of time and resources that such massive projects in a popular franchise require. Developer Bethesda already has a number of other big commitments, includingThe Elder Scrolls 6and moreStarfieldcontent, as well as ongoing support and expansions for its MMOsFallout 76andThe Elder Scrolls Online.And althoughFallout 5is a sure bet to come eventually, it’s a lengthy wait at this point.
In the meantime, there haven’t been as many high-profile titles to tide fans over. Probably the most recent one to satisfyingly scratch theFalloutitch is last year’sStalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Itself a long-awaited entry in a fan-favorite franchise,Stalker 2’s development was complicatedby the ongoing war in Ukraine and other issues well beyond the studio’s control. But it released to good success and reception. Now,Atomfallis poised to be next in line, and it has the potential to be the game that really sets the ball rolling on “Fallout-likes.”
Atomfall Could Spark a Chain Reaction
While it may resemble it in some regards,Atomfall’s differences toFalloutlook tohelp set it apart through it being stated to be more experimental in certain areas. There are also a couple of other recent and upcoming games in the same vein thatFalloutfans might want to keep tabs on:
Relatedly,4A Games Ukraine, recently rebranded to Reburn,has previously confirmed that a fourthMetrotitle is in development, along with revealing that it’s working on a new sci-fi VR title. And thoughSurvivorsis more in line withFallout 76as an MMO set in the world ofTerminator, it could contain much ofFallout’s general feel and style. Notably, many of these, includingAtomfall, are from smaller or more mid-sized developers compared to Bethesda, and thus aren’t beholden to as lengthy of a development process.
With years to go before its release, perhapsFallout 5can learn fromAtomfalland any other titles like it that come down the line. This could also extend to games not strictly in a similar open-world FPS space, but that still channel the narrative and visual styles. Fans might see, for example, more CRPGs likeWasteland(Fallout’s original precursor), and 2020’sDesperados 3.The bigger point, though, isthatAtomfallis in a great position to hopefully inspire and entice other developers to follow suit, and create adjacent experiences to fill the vacuum beforeFallout 5finally drops.
