After days of debates over what is and isn't canon, Todd Howard has the final say on whether the Fallout TV show is part of the game universe

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Spoiler alert: Yes, it's canon

Fallout
(Image credit: Prime Video)

Fallout helmer and Bethesda boss Todd Howard once again confirms that yes, the TV show adaptation is canon.

A debate over whether the live-action Prime Video series was ignited after a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment involving a chalkboard and a date. The series takes place in the year 2296, with the bombs dropping and The Great War beginning in 2077. In the show, Shady Sands, a colony of sorts that served as an attempt at restarting civilization, was destroyed in 2277. The game Fallout: New Vegas, however, takes place in 2281.

The date itself suggests one of two things: either the TV show isn't actually canon, or Fallout: New Vegas isn't canon to the main Fallout storyline. Howard went on record to settle the debate, confirming that both are indeed canon – and that nothing was retconned for the sake of the TV series.

"We’re careful about the timeline," Howard told IGN. “There might be a little bit of confusion in some places. But everything that happened in the previous games, including New Vegas, happened. We’re very careful about that. All I can say is we’re threading it tighter there, but the bombs fall just after the events of New Vegas."

The live-action TV adaptation doesn't adapt a particular storyline within the franchise, but is instead tells anew story within that world.

"Everyone who worked on Fallout, all the games, were so respectful and so careful to keep this consistent universe," said Jonathan Nolan, co-creator of the TV series. "I think that will be less meaningful to me watching the series, to know it was completely divorced from the reality of the games."

Fallout season 1 is now streaming on Prime Video. For more, check out the rest of our coverage on:

Lauren Milici
Lauren Milici
Senior Entertainment Writer

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.