The developers behind the original Fallout have recalled that many on the team weren't exactly fans of the now-iconic name at first.
No matter how you feel about the Fallout games, it's hard to argue that that isn't a perfect name for the series. Being able to encapsulate what the game is about in a single word is no easy feat, but the post-apocalyptic vibe is nailed (and the subtitle of A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game probably helped too, mind you). But it turns out some of the people who disagree with that sentiment are the developers behind the creation of the original game.
Speaking to Game Informer the team recalls the process of actually naming the RPG. Interplay founder Brian Fargo remembers, "There were a whole bunch [of names considered]. Vault 13 was one of them."
Fallout co-creator Leonard Boyarsky continues, "Me and Jason [Anderson, game designer and lead artist] were really down with, 'It's gotta be Vault 13!' which is just like, 'OK, then you can't tell any stories about anything but Vault 13.'" He admits, "It would have been a horrible name for a series of games, but we weren't thinking that. We were just like, 'Oh, it's really cool. It's Vault 13!'"
Fellow co-creator Tim Cain explains, "I found a list from a brainstorming meeting that we did on the naming of the game, and Fallout was on the list. But we all went, 'It's too obvious.' I remember somebody went, 'It's 80 years later. There's no fallout'."
However, Fargo – after taking the game home on weekends to play – figured something out, "I said, 'Hey, you know, I think I've got a good name for us,' which was Fallout."
Cain recalls, "My immediate reaction was 'Ehh…' But I told the team and we all kind of liked it. It kind of attached because it made sense for a lot of reasons."
Fargo explains that "naming titles is always tricky because there's always a contingent that doesn't like it no matter what. And then you've got to sit with it for a while and see if they do like it." Cain adds, "Years later, I've come to appreciate how good Brian was at naming games."
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