| Fallout Online | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Interplay Entertainment Masthead Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Interplay Entertainment |
| Director(s) | Jason D. Anderson |
| Series | Fallout |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | Canceled |
| Genre(s) | Massively multiplayer online role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Fallout Online was a canceled massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Interplay Entertainment and Masthead Studios. It was intended to be the first online game in the Fallout series. Little information exists about what gameplay or plot would have entailed. According to dialogue writer Mark O'Green, Fallout Online would have been set along the West Coast of the United States, in parts of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. The story would have revolved around a long series of disasters, and one storyline would have involved the player going back in time to experience moments from previous Fallout games.
The idea for an online Fallout game was envisioned by Interplay founder Brian Fargo in the late 1990s, although development would not begin for several years. Bethesda Softworks purchased the Fallout intellectual property in 2007, and allowed Interplay to work on Fallout Online with the stipulations that they needed to secure $30 million in financing, begin development by April 2009, and release the game within four years of commencement. This contract led to a lengthy legal battle between the two companies.
In 2009, Bethesda sued Interplay for trademark infringement, multiple counts of breach of contract, and unfair competition, and later amended their lawsuit to claim Interplay was only given the rights to use the name Fallout, but not any material associated with the Fallout series. Interplay was $2.54 million in debt, and little work had been made on the game, even after they entered a parternship with Masthead. The two companies reached an out of court settlement in 2012, which resulted in the cancellation of Fallout Online. Bethesda released their own online Fallout game, Fallout 76, in 2018.