With the Fallout television show gaining widespread critical acclaim, fans of the series who are familiar with the timeline have been wondering whether the show is part of the video game canon. 

We are going to be looking at what the team behind the show and the game had to say about whether the show truly is canonical to the Fallout games. 

Is the Fallout television series canonical?

This subject has been touched upon several times by various members of the team behind the show, all of whom confirm that yes, the show is part of the canon of the Fallout game series. 

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Fallout 3 and 4 director Todd Howard—also the director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios—confirmed the show is part of the lore. The article notes the team at Bethesda were “careful to make sure the scripts could co-exist with previous storylines from the gaming titles.” As Howard himself also states in the interview, “we view what’s happening in the show as canon.”

Howard’s desire for the show to be part of the timeline of the Fallout world in some way is even more apparent in an interview with showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dwort for SFX magazine. In the interview, she talks about the only rule that Howard had when it came to the creation of the show. “[Todd Howard] only wanted to ensure the Prime Video series didn’t contradict any major game endings,” Robertson-Dwort stated.

Director and executive producer of the show Jonathan Nolan also confirmed the show is part of the greater lore of the Fallout universe established in the games in an interview with Total Film, even going as far as to compare it to a sequel of sorts to the main series of Fallout games, “Our series sits in relation to the games as the games sit in relation to each other,” he said. “It’s almost like we’re Fallout 5.”

The separate stories explored in each Fallout game allow the show to become part of that canon with greater ease than if one particular character or cast of characters were followed throughout. 

The games are all set at different times after the Great War of 2077, but these time gaps can be several years, decades, or even centuries apart. This open nature has been a positive for the show, allowing it to be included in the lore while still presenting a unique take on the world with new yet still recognizable elements.