Chris Avellone, a key designer on Fallout: New Vegas, has shared his candid thoughts on the Amazon Prime Video Fallout television series, admitting he feels a sense of embarrassment regarding some of the dialogue. Avellone, speaking on Insider Gaming’s Access Granted podcast, contrasted the show's writing with that of other game adaptations, specifically praising Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
"I kind of wish the game writing for TV shows like that, where they’re mimicking a game, they would kind of elevate it a bit," Avellone stated. "Edgerunners was really cool, no problems there. But sometimes I wish the script quality on the Fallout TV show was a little higher."
He elaborated that while he finds the show enjoyable, he observes a tendency among some Hollywood writers to deviate from source material due to a lack of firsthand experience with the games themselves. This, he suggested, can lead to missed storytelling opportunities.
"I don’t mean to put all Hollywood writers in this category, but I think some of them also still struggle with, ‘Okay, I’m writing a game franchise, and obviously, those game writers didn’t know what they were doing. I’m a respected Hollywood writer, and I know how these things are supposed to work,’" Avellone explained. "I think, for some of them, it’s really easy to dismiss that work and go in their own direction, which they think is more solid. But the problem is, when they do that, they don’t have any sense of, they probably haven’t played Fallout 3 or Fallout 4 or New Vegas, so a lot of the context is gone, as well as opportunities."
Despite these reservations about the script, Avellone expressed admiration for the performances of actors Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins. His perspective offers a differing view from that of Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer, who previously lauded the series as an "amazing adaptation."
The Fallout series has been renewed for a third season, with new cast member Manny Jacinto joining the production. Bethesda development chief Todd Howard has indicated that the upcoming seasons will introduce new elements and explore previously unseen geographical locations within the Fallout universe.