Bethesda Wants More Mobile Games Like Fallout Shelter
It looks like Fallout Shelter, the companion mobile game and app made for Fallout 4, was so successful that Bethesda Softworks is feeling good about creating more mobile game experiences. Speaking at the 2016 DICE Summit, Fallout 4 game director Todd Howard told Gamespot that the studio wants to invest more in the mobile gaming space, saying, “We’re gonna do more.”
Even Howard was taken aback by the success of Fallout Shelter, saying, “I think if you expect, ‘Yeah, it’ll be number one and out-gross Candy Crush for a while,’ you’re generally going to be set up for failure and disappointment.” According to Howard, the aim with Fallout Shelter was not about how to squeeze more money out of the franchise, but how to offer players a deeper and more engaging overall experience. He stated: “Mostly we were concerned with it being appropriate for who we are [as Bethesda Game Studios]–meaning it’s got a bit more meat on the bone than other things like it. But its overall popularity? We were not ready for that, which is a good problem.”
Speaking on the appeal of mobile games and how Bethesda will do more, Howard continued: “It’s in your pocket, a lot of [the games are] free or easy to try,” he said. “So every time you’re playing, you’re thinking, ‘We could do one of these, I think we could do something special here.’ So we’re gonna do more.”
Fallout Shelter is available as a free-to-play game for mobile smart phones. Bethesda did not reveal how much revenue the app made, but based on its microtransactions, the game pulled in about $5.1 million from its first two weeks alone. Fallout 4 is currently available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. New DLC will be released in April.