War never changes. The retrofuturistic apocalypse world of Fallout has captivated fans since 1997, offering a glimpse into the North American wasteland post-nuclear war in various regions.
Keeping up with the series’ timeline can be challenging unless you meticulously follow every detail. In addition to the best Fallout games, the new Fallout TV show also adds to the chronological complexity. While we won’t delve into every detail here, we will outline the specific years that each mainline title is set in and provide guidance on playing them in order.
Fallout games by release date
The Fallout series is nearing its 30th anniversary, with more entries than commonly known. Apart from the mainline games, there are several unconventional spinoffs as well.
- Fallout (1997)
- Fallout 2 (1998)
- Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (2001)
- Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (2004)
- Fallout 3 (2008)
- Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
- Fallout 4 (2015)
- Fallout Shelter (2015)
- Fallout Pinball (2016)
- Fallout 76 (2018)
- Fallout Shelter Online (2019)
Fallout games in chronological order
The Fallout series unfolds after the Great War, a global thermonuclear conflict that devastated the world on October 23, 2077. Within two hours, nuclear detonations obliterated civilization worldwide.
Given the non-linear release of the games, playing them in chronological order requires some jumping around. Here’s the timeline for each mainline title in Fallout:
- Fallout 76 (2102 – 2104)
- Fallout (2161)
- Fallout 2 (2241)
- Fallout 3 (2277)
- Fallout: New Vegas (2281)
- Fallout 4 (2287)
- Fallout TV series (2296 – 2297)
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