Bethesda Considered New York for Fallout 4, But Opted for a Different Setting Due to Similarities with Other Games

Fallout 4 could have taken place in New York City instead of Boston, but the allure of The Big Apple as a gaming backdrop was too strong at the time.

In an interview, lead designer and writer Emil Pagliarulo shared, “We wanted to do something grand and American: that’s New York for you.” However, Bethesda quickly scrapped the New York concept due to its saturation in the gaming landscape.

Pagliarulo noted, “At that time, other games were being set in New York; one of the Crysis games had just come out, and that was set in New York, then there was another game.” While he doesn’t specify the other title, it’s likely he was referring to either the Prototype series or Resistance 3, both of which launched around the same period as Crysis 2 and 3, which were also set in New York.

Reflecting on the decision, Pagliarulo said, “You know what? Maybe New York’s not the right call.” This led to the choice of the Commonwealth as the setting for Fallout 4. However, he and lead artist Istvan Pely have differing recollections about how Boston was ultimately selected.

Pagliarulo mentioned, “I didn’t want to push for Boston, even though I thought it would be a great location,” explaining that Pely and director Todd Howard approached him with the idea. In contrast, Pely recalled, “I remember when it came time to do Fallout 4, Emil’s like ‘can we do it in Boston? Can we do my hometown?'” He added, “I don’t know, maybe he got a kick out of that, blowing up his hometown.”

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