The arrival of Fallout on Prime Video invited many new fans to the franchise. With the series having five main games and many spin-offs, there’s one question fans have after watching the 8-part series – is the Fallout TV show canon? The short answer is yes, the show is set in the same universe as the Bethesda games.

Why did fans question the legitimacy of the show in canon? Well, the show does have some minor inconsistencies within the larger canon, though most of them can be ignored. One of the highlights is the introduction of Shady Sands, a town in New California that was destroyed by nuclear weapons in the past. The fall of the city, introduced in episode 5, was supposed to happen in a certain year, which would indicate that Fallout: New Vegas is not canon. This has since been proven false and to clear up the confusion, the official timeline of the series has been revealed.

Here is the entire timeline of the Fallout franchise.

The entire Fallout timeline

Inciting Incident (Nukes Drop) – 2077

The inciting incident that kick-started the whole premise of the franchise takes place in the year 2077. That seems like a magic number considering it’s also set in another notable RPG franchise, CDPR’s Cyberpunk. Nevertheless, a nuclear war between the United States and China on October 23, 2077 destroyed the world.

Fallout 76-2102

The latest game in the franchise is also one of the first in its canon. Bethesda’s Fallout 76, an online multiplayer RPG, takes place twenty-five years after a nuclear war. The game takes place in West Virginia.

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game – 2161

The first Fallout game, developed by Interplay Productions, takes place 84 years after the war. Unlike the later games, it was the first CRPG. Players assume the role of a vault dweller from Vault 13, set in Southern California.

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel – 2197

Fallout Tactics takes place a little over ten years after the explosion. It follows Brotherhood of Steel and focuses more on tactical combat. Unlike the first two Fallout games, Fallout Tactics takes place in the Midwest. After the transfer of rights after Fallout 3, many elements of the game were used in Bethesda games.

Fallout 2 – 2241

The second game in the series, developed by Black Isle Studios, takes place 80 years after Fallout 1. It features a direct tie-in to the first game, as players take on the role of the grandson of the first game’s protagonist. It is located on the west coast of the United States of America.

Fallout 3 – 2277

The first game from Bethesda and the first first person game. Fallout 3 is set in the Capital Wasteland around Washington, D.C. Despite being set in the capital and almost 40 years after Fallout 2, it has no direct connection to that game, which ended with the protagonist killing Dick Richardson, the President of the United States . .

However, after Richardson’s death, the Enclave was revealed to have been taken over by the Eden supercomputer. The protagonist of Fallout 3 is a resident of Vault 101.

Fallout: New Vegas – 2281

Considered by many to be the best game in the series, Fallout: New Vegas takes place in the city of the same name more than 200 years after the Great War. The game shows the three main factions in the war – the New California Republic, Caesar’s Legion and Robert House. We learn more about the NCR in the TV show Fallout.

Spoilers: With the end of the Fallout TV show teasing New Vegas as the primary setting for Season 2, we expect this to play into the game.

Fallout 4 – 2287

Fallout 4 takes place ten years after the third game, this time following the inhabitants of Vault 111. The game takes place in The Commonwealth, an area that covers Boston and parts of New England. It is the first game to have a section set in 2077, showing life from the perspective of the inhabitants on the day the bombs were dropped.

Fallout TV Show – 2296

Finally, the latest project in the series is also officially set in the far future, at least compared to the games. Set ten years after Fallout 4, it explores the wasteland of Los Angeles. It also delves more into the history of Vault-Tec, exploring the interconnected Vaults 31, 32 and 33. It also explores the origins of Vault Boy, the franchise’s iconic mascot.

The timeline was shared by Emil Pagliarulo, Director of Studio Design at Bethesda Game Studio. With more Fallout seasons planned and Bethesda working on Fallout 5 after the release of The Elder Scrolls 6, the timeline of the universe is only going to get more complicated.

We’ve only covered official Fallout projects, but there are tons of mods and fan-made stories that explore other eras and places in the universe. For example, Fallout London, a recent mod, takes place in 2237 between the events of Fallout 1 and 2.

Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The live-action Fallout series adaptation airs on Prime Video.