10 Mind-Blowing "What If?" Video Game Scenarios That Almost Happened
3. Black Isle Release Fallout: Van Buren
Despite the Fallout of today very much being one of the gaming industry's biggest franchises, it wasn't always the case. Originally, when the series was under the guidance of Black Isle, it garnered something of a cult following, having set up shop solely on PC and not on the burgeoning popularity of the console market.
In 2003, Black Isle was shut down by their parent company, Interplay Entertainment, which effectively put an end to their third Fallout game, codenamed Van Buren. While many of the title's narrative elements made their way into what would eventually become New Vegas, Fallout as it then existed - as an isometric, turn-based RPG - would cease to be.
Bethesda would later acquire the license and revolutionise RPGs as we knew them with Fallout 3, subsequently birthing one of today's biggest gaming IPs and ensuring a constant revenue stream for Zenimax for years to come.
If Interplay managed to keep their finances in order however, and keep Black Isle on the books, then the Fallout 3 we all know and love would've never come into being. It would've continued to be a cult PC franchise and, while Bethesda themselves aren't exactly short on quality IPs, a lack of Fallout would be a sad thing for all concerned.