Todd Howard says Fallout season 2 strikes the balance between "starting fresh" in New Vegas and "honoring the journey" of players who have spent 1000s of hours in the iconic RPG location

Bethesda director Todd Howard has opened up on Fallout's return to New Vegas, and how the TV show's creative team is approaching stepping back into the iconic RPG location.

"We sort of approach it like we do a new game. Like, hey, we're starting fresh," Howard tells GamesRadar+.

"Okay, we're going back to Vegas: number one, we've got to honor the journey that every player had there. Maneuvering that is tricky. [Co-showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet] have some great ways to manoeuvre that fog of war, and [ask] what are the factions up to now."

For Howard, the philosophy – as has been the case across his game career – has always been fan-first, but with some risks that will surely become apparent as Lucy, The Ghoul, and the wasteland's assorted mix of wanderers and survivors head towards the Strip.

"It's going back to authenticity," Howard says. "What would we want to see as a fan? Make it as authentic as possible and come at it with a lot of thought, a lot of love, but also take some swings."

To that end, the enigmatic House – first glimpsed on the TV side in Fallout season 1 after his turn as a key power player in 2010's Fallout: New Vegas – was the topic of discussion for Howard and the creative team.

"It was a question early on: Do we put House in the show? How much? And then you're like, 'He's amazing. He's one of the best characters. The first real character from the games brought into the show and he's awesome, right? So, [that's] just a great opportunity."

Despite that, Fallout's showrunners have been open about not committing to a specific New Vegas ending. You can read more about that in our chat with Geneva Dworet-Robertson.

Then, dive into our ranking of the best Fallout games.