Yep, Fallout 5's world will be impacted by the happenings of the Fallout TV Show, sayeth Todd Howard

"We are taking that into account"

As the second series of Amazon's Fallout TV show emerges from a hole in the ground with a cog-shaped door, Todd Howard has uttered the word Fallout and stuck a five after it. He's given a verbal thumbs up - or a reminder depending on how you look at it - to the idea of the events which play out in the TV show having an impact on the next mainline entry on the series, at least in terms of being a consideration in worldbuilding.

Asked by the Beeb's Newsbeat whether the show will have an impact on Fallout 5, cleanliness is next to Toddliness replied: "In short, yes." "Fallout 5 will be existing in a world where the stories and events of the show happened or are happening," he expanded. "We are taking that into account."

Based on the phrasing, I'd assume all he's likely talking about here is the need for the likes of terminal entries or other in-game lore whisperings which refer to places in the post-apocalyptic US that the show has touched to mirror what the adaptation says took place. For example, everyone's brains getting very foggy following the second battle of Hoover Dam. Or, well, all that bollocks around the NCR capital going boom, which I honestly just thought was a rather unnecessary can of worms for the show to have opened.

Is any of that, or possible cheeky references to the likes of Lucy and The Ghoul, stuff I'm particularly bothered about the next single-player Fallout containing whenever it finally arrives? Not really, no. Then again, I've been clear in my view that I reckon the show'd likely benefit from its creators not having to dedicate so much time to debates involving the word canon. Is it nice to have all your things' worlds nicely slot together in a way that can serve the wider narrative by layering together a shared history - and also result in them being neatly corporately synergised? Yeah, it is, but at the same time, that wider lore building should ideally serve the key stories being told in the here and now of a game or show first and foremost, not the other way around.

With both the showrunners and the Todd having already kicked off chatter about a third series prior to the latest one even going live, the Howard has also revealed - this time to Variety - that the two sides are already hard at work deciding how they can do Fallout game stuff to coincide with that next series.

"For us on the game and TV show side, we’re writing season three now," Fairly Todd Parents said. "We’re having those conversations now of, what are we doing in season three for the TV show and what elements can we bring into our games at that time when it comes out that don’t feel forced or fake." So, more crossover like Fallout 76's Gogginsy Burning Springs update being lined up ahead of time, which to be fair is vastly superior to people having to shout en-masse 'Where be the new Fallouty bits now you've whetted my appetite?'

Fallout 5, as of writing, is still without a release date. One assumes that it'll drop around the year 453689386890290906789, a little bit after The Elder Scrolls 6 arrives in 303689386890290906789.