The reveal of Fallout 4 was one of the biggest moments of E3 2015. Whereas most games arrive with a short trailer or a far-off release date, Fallout 4 hit the show floor with a lengthy demo, multiple trailers and (most importantly) a release date that didn't end with "2016." It was a perfect example of how a game should be revealed — and, according to the folks over at Bethesda, that's how it was planned from the start.
In an interview with GameSpot, Bethesda marketing executive Pete Hines went into detail about how the studio was able to reveal such a huge game in such a grandiose way. Really, the only way to do it was to wait until the game was basically done: for the most part, Fallout 4 was finished before it was even announced.
Hines confirmed this when asked about fan-requested features making their way into the game. When it comes down to it, there's just not enough time left to implement new features if fans want the game to launch this year:
"Let's be honest, it doesn't matter what anybody wants for a feature in Fallout 4. The game is basically done. It was by and large done before we announced it, in terms of the features going in. You're not adding new features in May, June, July in the year you're releasing; you're trying to get everything fixed."
It may sound a bit harsh, but it's the truth: it takes months of testing and fixing code for games to be ready for release, and it only gets harder as the game gets bigger... and Fallout games are absolutely massive.
At the end of the day, it's all about the trade-off: would you rather the game take longer to develop and see some new features added in, or do you want to play the game sooner with fewer fan-requested additions? For most fans, it'll be the former — especially considering that Fallout 3 was released all the way back in 2008.
Sure, it took a while for Fallout to make its way back into the limelight... but judging by the game's E3 appearance, it was well worth the wait.
Fallout 4 is due out on November 15.
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