At the tail end of September, someone took to social media to reveal a Fallout game that you could play in your web browser, dubbed ‘Fallout: New York.’ That might sound great for any fan of the post-apocalyptic wasteland, but the problem is, the entire thing was AI-generated.
It took ZeniMax just two days to chase down the creator with a cease-and-desist order, requesting that they put an end to the slop travesty that had drawn scorn from real fans and adoration from AI bros on social media.
Fallout: New York enjoyed a shelf life of just three days, end to end.
AI Slop Fallout Game Destroyed by ZeniMax
ZeniMax Media has rightfully slammed the banhammer down on an AI-generated rendition of an all-new Fallout game named Fallout: New York. In a post on social media published on September 28, a user by the name of CHRIS FIRST revealed the project, stressing that the entire thing had been built in Claude Opus 5.5.
This was a point of pride for the user, who explained:
Zero texture files. Zero sound files. Every building, weapon, face and sound is generated by code.
The game ‘boasted’ a quest system, dialogue trees, V.A.T.S., and a working Pip-Boy, and the entire thing booted from within a simple browser.
In the comments under the post, like-minded users flocked to CHRIS FIRST’s creation:
Just insane, wow.
Fortunately, the ‘game’ was a horrific mess with jank at every turn. This is what Claude’s generational model thought a Ghoul should look like:
Sure, if we take the technological concept at face value, what has been achieved here is absolutely mind-blowing, but it’s not where we want our industry to go. And that’s a sentiment echoed by ZeniMax.
On October 1, CHRIS FIRST returned to social media with a woeful message:
Hey,
@BethesdaStudios how about you make a Fallout game instead so I don’t have to?
Sorry to everyone who enjoyed the game! But the suits got involved and the fun is over.
He shared an image from ZeniMax Media’s lawyers, who had issued a stalwart cease-and-desist message about the game:
… it is their obligation as a trademark owner to monitor and enforce against the unauthorized and infringing use of its trademarks in a way that is likely to cause consumer confusion and/or any other act that may weaken, dilute, or otherwise adversely affect the goodwill and reputation of its brands.
If you try to access Fallout: New York now, you’re met with a message warning you that the project has been privatized and is no longer available for consumption; thank the almighty.
In the comments under that post, CHRIS FIRST was pulled to pieces by critics. One wrote, ‘Well yeah, of course the suits got involved; you broke copyright law and used AI to make a slop game as well. Shock horror, you can’t make a game from an IP belonging to someone else.’
Another slammed the attempt to ‘create’ a new Fallout game: ‘You didn’t make sh*t. You asked a site to give you geojson data, fed said data to some waste regurgitating machine, and it spat out a large, boring, and uninspired piece of post-war slop. You and creation do not go hand in hand.’
The entire saga was a bizarre thing from start to finish. It also shows how clueless the creator is in the first place, as in the canon, New York is a smouldering crater with nothing going on. That’s why it hasn’t ever been used in the game as a major setting.
Fortunately, if you’re holding out hope for something new in the Fallout space, you might not have to wait too long. We know that Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are being remastered. We also know there’s more coming for Fallout Shelter, the mobile experience, and Fallout 76, the post-apocalyptic MMORPG.
Next year, Fallout 76 will take users back to Fallout 3 with a revisit of Raven Rock, which is extremely exciting.
And, let’s not forget, Fallout 5 is officially in pre-production. Celebrations all around.
Are you sad to see the back of the AI slop rendition of Fallout: New York? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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