10 Crucial Video Games That Saved Dying Franchises

Fallout 3 was in development for a long time prior to its eventual cancellation in 2003. The game was originally being developed by Black Isles Studios, and had been delayed on multiple occasions in favour of other projects. Eventually however, the company was disbanded, and the rights to the franchise were sold to Bethesda Softworks.

In 2008, Fallout 3 was finally released after an entire decade of development limbo, and was praised almost unanimously for its scope and design. To date, the game has been awarded multiple awards, and if often cited as one of the finest games of the previous generation. With that said, Fallout 3 almost never happened.

Interplay Entertainment, the original creators of Fallout, very nearly filed for bankruptcy back in 1998. The studio was in dire shape, and even after it went public, its financial issues persisted well into the 2000s. In 2003, Interplay were forced to disband Black Isles Studios, and has since been involved in numerous, costly legal battles with various other companies, including Snowblind Studios, Topware Interactive and Bethesda Softworks.

Thankfully, Fallout 3 made it into the right hands, but had the rights remained with Interplay, and had they actually filed for bankruptcy in 1998, Fallout 3 could have been lost in the shuffle entirely.

That didn’t happen, and Bethesda were able to revive the series successfully, reimagining the franchise for an all new generation of players, giving it the treatment it deserves in the process. Had it ended up in the wrong hands, who knows what condition the series may have been left in, or if it would have even made it to completion at all.