Fallout 4 is in development, leaked documents confirm

Leaked documents obtained by Kotaku have confirmed several details about the next game in the Fallout series, and it’s definitely in development right now.

Kotaku’s Jason Schreier was sent documents for a casting call that was ostensibly for a game called Institute. Shreier was able to determine the origin of the documents as well as confirm that the casting director for the voice actor screening also worked on Dishonored and Skyrim.

“The casting documents, which I’ve been able to confirm are real, include scripts, character descriptions, and other details about the next Fallout, and although the word Fallout does not appear in these scripts, there are several references to Fallout‘s setting and locations,” writes Shreier.

The documents themselves are a little sparse on content, but reveal some interesting details. Firstly, it appears that instead of Ron Perlman’s voice beginning with “War. War never changes,” the player’s character instead does the narration, beginning the tale with the protagonist’s great-great grandfather surviving World War II.

The story continues that the Great War came about because of a shortage of resources that were being fought over. Along with the atomic bomb, nuclear fission enabled technologies to develop like never before, giving some countries unprecedented power.

The protagonist’s story takes place in the days before the war. He is to fend for his wife and unborn son and ensuring their safety makes him anxious, afraid he might lose them. The script mentions army combat experience, and that the protagonist is familiar with war and its ugly side.

However, because this is a casting call, any details in the short script can be changed or even completely bogus. Though the locations are unlikely to change at this point, the character names and the spoken lines may not appear in the game at all.

It does mean though, that the reason why the man behind the survivor2299 website, who goes by the name DCHoaxer, refuses to talk about his project after Bethesda contacted him was likely because he was getting too close to the actual story. Although the fan-fiction would have been incredibly riveting, it probably hit too close to home for Bethesda once they had an idea where it was going.

So, predictions? I’m calling it in that we’ll see a teaser trailer at E3 2014 and Bethesda will flesh out some of the story details at that point. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see the game launch in late 2014 or before 2H 2015.