How Fallout I and Fallout II failed

Cult games are not always successful. And a living example of this is the story of Fallout I and Fallout II. These games told us about life in the post-nuclear desert. But the irony is that they themselves went so far as to sell them in this very desert. Future legends, only appearing, were not needed by anyone. Perhaps this is the fate of all legends.

I first heard about the financial failure of the first two Fallouts a few years ago. I didn’t think about it until recently a friend of mine said: “Fallout failure is a myth” and indicated a link to Wikipedia about Interplay, where it was said that the game was successful .

Interested in this question, I decided to study the history of the game with a ruler and a caliper and find accurate evidence or refutation of whether the game was succesful or not.
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I may not be Google’s genius, but the search didn’t give me any special results, except for vague muttering on the fan forum that the game was NOT very successful and sold with a circulation of 200-300 thousand copies (for 1998 it was actually a failure).

Then I did it easier. I asked a question to domestic game developers. And they told me very interesting facts:

1. Indeed, the first sales looked like a failure. The first Fallout in 1997 was sold in America with a circulation of only 23 thousand copies (in the amount of 300 to dollars).
2. The developers thought that they had not invested enough in the game. And they tried to invest much more serious efforts and resources in Fallout II. So to speak, to pump the game.
3. In 1998, Fallout II was released, pumped and fed with steroids. And it is sold in the USA with a circulation of 36 thousand copies (550 dollars). Although growth, yes, was noticeable.
4. The developers were depressed and gave up. But as it turned out, they hurried. In 1999, Fallout 1 + 2 compilation was released at a budget price of $ 9.99. And an amazing thing - this budget version has a circulation of 286,000 copies.

And the last figure is already encouraging. Of course, a circulation of 300 thousand for two games can hardly be called a commercial success. One Baldur Gate, released in the same years, sold over 300 thousand copies (and not at the budget price). But still it was no longer a blatant failure.

To make a final judgment about the failure or success of Fallout I and II, it remains only to understand which budgets were invested in their development. But these numbers are still hidden behind the seal of secrecy.

We can only assume that the developers of Fallout have hardly paid off or have not paid off their costs at all. In May 2001, Fergus Urquhart, president of Black Isle, admitted that they would have to sell between 150,000 and 200,000 to just recoup the costs of developing Fallout 3. It must be assumed that similar figures would be true for the first two games.

Consequently, Fallout I and Fallout II still failed commercially.

Although losing the battle in the present, they won in the future. And they became a real legend.

If you are interested in the details of how the investigation went and where the indicated numbers came from, I recommend reading the following links:

1. Quotes from developers - with names and companies
2. Full thread on DTF.ru (may not be visible to those who do not have an account there)
3. Fergus Urquhart quote about 150-200 thousand copies of Fallout 3