Fallout TV show on Prime Video: what we know so far

One of the greatest gaming franchises of all time is getting a TV show. No, not Smash Bros - Fallout.

The post apocalyptic game series, which has spanned some 23 years, is being made into a big-budget TV Amazon Prime TV show and Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (Westworld) are executive producing.

Now, this news is bittersweet to us. And that's because, Amazon putting its money behind a Fallout TV show may well be because it didn't want to pick up Stephen King's The Dark Tower, which went to pilot but was eventually turned down.

While we would have loved to have seen Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead) take on the Ka Tet, Amazon has decided to back one of the biggest gaming franchises of all time instead.

Here's what we know about the show so far and what Fallout actually is.

What the hell is Fallout?

Fallout is a four-game series that focuses on those who survived The Great War - a ruddy great nuclear conflict between the US and China that did what any nuclear combat would do, destroyed most of the world.

There were survivors, though, those who went into underground 'Vaults'. There were also those who didn't quite make the vaults and managed to live above ground, where the world is full of things like super mutants, ghouls, and giant, irradiated beasts.

The game is set in an alternative world that's branded as atompunk, where robots and sophisticated technology sits alongside relics of the 40s and 50s, making a weird miasma of sci-fi and nostalgia.

In the game, you control a vault dweller who is equipped with a Pip Boy device and is often found with a dog as a companion.

While there have been four official games, there have been a number of spin-offs including the brilliant Fallout: New Vegas, the addictive mobile game Fallout Shelter and the online prequel Fallout 76.

Who is making the Fallout TV show?

As we mentioned, Amazon Studios has picked up the Fallout TV show and its executive producers are Jonathon Nolan (brother of Chris Nolan) and Lisa Joy.

In a statement they noted: "Fallout is one of the greatest game series of all time. Each chapter of this insanely imaginative story has cost us countless hours we could have spent with family and friends. So we're incredibly excited to partner with Todd Howard and the rest of the brilliant lunatics at Bethesda to bring this massive, subversive, and darkly funny universe to life with Amazon Studios.”

Nolan and Joy will be working closely with Bethesda Game Studios. In another statement, Executive Producer Todd Howard revealed that they have been trying to make a show of the game for the last decade, explaining: “Over the last decade, we looked at many ways to bring Fallout to the screen, but it was clear from the moment I first spoke with Jonah and Lisa a few years ago, that they and the team at Kilter were the ones to do it right. We’re enormous fans of their work and couldn’t be more excited to work with them and Amazon Studios.”

It has been revealed that the Fallout TV show will have co-showrunners, with Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner on board. Robertson-Dworet was one of the writers on Captain Marvel and Tomb Raider, while Wagner has written and produced a number of comedies, including Portlandia and Silicon Valley.

What will the Fallout TV show be about?

There isn't a plot outline as such, but a few tidbits were revealed in the press release - and given the hundreds of hours of gameplay footage that can be mined, they won't be struggling for plotlines.

Here's an inkling of how the TV show will play out: "The world of Fallout is one where the future envisioned by Americans in the late 1940s explodes upon itself through a nuclear war in 2077. The magic of the Fallout world is the harshness of the wasteland set against the previous generation’s utopian idea of a better world through nuclear energy.

"It is serious and harsh in tone, yet sprinkled with moments of ironic humor and B-movie-nuclear-fantasies."

When is the Fallout TV show release date?

The Fallout TV show release date isn't known as of yet but production is happening in 2022. This will be a show that will take a lot of time to build but we can pretty much guarantee it'll be out before Elder Scrolls VI (joke! But, seriously, this will probably be the case).

To put it into context: we had to wait 505 days between season one and two of Westworld, so Nolan and Joy do like to take their time when making things.

While you are waiting, here are the other best Amazon Prime series to gorge on. And Fallout: New Vegas is in our best open world games list.