Why Was the Lost Fallout 3 Never Given a Chance?

Bethesda’s Fallout 3, released in 2008, was one of the games that changed the fate of the series. However, there was a completely different Fallout 3 project in development before it, known by the codename “Van Buren.” Now, experienced game designer Josh Sawyer, who worked on that team, has made noteworthy statements about why the project was shelved.

The First Version of Fallout 3 Was Never Shown to Executives

According to Josh Sawyer, Van Buren would have retained the isometric camera angle of the first two Fallout games, but would have used three-dimensional polygon graphics instead of pixel graphics. Sawyer served as the lead systems designer on the project, while Chris Avellone led the development process.

However, things started to get increasingly difficult within the studio. With experienced members leaving to form Obsidian Entertainment, the team shrank, resources were reduced, and Interplay’s interest in the project almost completely disappeared. Sawyer says that at the time, his only dream was to complete Fallout 3, but this became increasingly impossible.

The most striking claim concerns the process of the project’s cancellation. According to Sawyer, the team repeatedly invited Interplay executives to see the development process. They wanted to show the budgets, the schedule, and the technology demo that had been prepared, but the executives did not accept these invitations. Moreover, the development team was working in the same building, just one floor above.

According to Sawyer, after he left, producer Tom French was finally able to show the prepared technology demo to executives. The response he received was a disappointment he still remembers years later. Allegedly, the executives said, “If we had known you were making a demo like this, we probably wouldn’t have canceled the game.”

Shortly after Van Buren’s cancellation, Black Isle Studios was completely shut down. Sawyer then joined Midway and later Obsidian Entertainment, becoming the lead designer of Fallout: New Vegas. Despite the years that have passed, Van Buren is still considered one of the biggest “what if?” stories in the gaming world, and many Fallout fans continue to wonder what kind of experience this never-released game would have offered.

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