Why Skyrim Can't Follow in Fallout's Footsteps

Why Skyrim Can’t Follow in Fallout’s Footsteps

Over the last two decades, Bethesda has turned Fallout into one of the biggest gaming franchises in the Western world, but its history dates back to long before then. Released all the way back in 1997, Interplay Productions’ Fallout, naturally, laid much of the groundwork that the rest of the franchise would follow in the decades to come, as did developer Black Isle’s 1998 sequel. The Fallout franchise has had a long history, and the recently released Amazon Fallout show does its very best to honor everything that came before it.

Announced back in July 2020, fans were initially skeptical of the news of a live-action Fallout project. Though the game’s strong focus on narrative and character development made a live-action adaptation make a lot of sense, at that time, there weren’t too many great live-action video game adaptations around. But flash forward almost four years to the release of Amazon’s Fallout, and both fans and critics alike are loving it, so much so that many are now requesting a live-action adaptation of Bethesda’s other beloved RPG franchise, The Elder Scrolls. But just because Fallout has worked in the world of live-action doesn’t mean that The Elder Scrolls will, and there are a few big reasons for that.

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Skyrim Can’t Be Given Fallout’s TV Treatment So Easily

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The Fallout Show Offers a Unique Take on The Post-Acopalypse

The post-apocalyptic genre is nothing new to the world of entertainment, with dystopian fiction first gaining popularity all the way back in the 1800s. Countless pieces of media have adopted the genre over the last two centuries. In the realm of movies and TV, most shows revolving around a post-apocalyptic setting are usually sorted into two main categories: drama and comedy.

Shows like The Walking Dead, Westworld, Snowpiercer, and The Last of Us all belong to the drama category, with the vast majority of their runtime being centered around the horrors and grounded reality of whatever post-apocalyptic setting they’re portraying. Then there are shows like The Last Man on Earth and Miracle Workers, that subvert the conventions of the dramatic post-apocalyptic setting. The recently released Fallout manages to carve out a special niche for itself by striking a perfect balance between these two extremes.

Embracing the often irreverent, but occasionally somber and dark tone of its source material fully, Amazon’s Fallout show can rapidly change between moments of absurdity designed to evoke humor, and moments of horror designed to build suspense and tension, occasionally during the very same scene. While Fallout also features some excellent writing, performances, action choreography, special effects, and cinematography, it’s this genre-switching niche that really makes Fallout stand out among the sea of other post-apocalyptic TV shows, and other live-action video game adaptations.

A Skyrim Show Might Not Have a Distinct Niche

While humor is occasionally sprinkled into Skyrim via dialogue or certain side quests, it’s mainly a very straightforward fantasy drama, and one that follows a lot of the conventions of its genre. Dragons, magic, mages, werewolves, elves, swords, and legendary heroes are all present in Skyrim, just as they are in countless other pieces of fantasy media. On a surface level, Skyrim shares a lot of similarities with shows like Game of Thrones and Rings of Power, meaning that a live-action adaptation of the game wouldn’t stand out in its genre nearly as much as Fallout does in its own.

On top of that, Bethesda has been pretty open about its future plans for a Skyrim TV show, or the lack thereof. In a recent interview with IGN, Elder Scrolls director Todd Howard confirmed that there are no current plans for a Skyrim or Elder Scrolls TV adaptation, and even stated that he would “probably say no” to any pitches for one right now, citing that the Fallout show was a “natural relationship” that wasn’t forced, and came about on its own over time. Howard did say that he “can’t predict the future,” though, meaning a Skyrim live-action adaptation could come in the future, but likely not anytime soon.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim is the fifth major game in the Elder Scrolls series. Considered one of the greatest games ever made, it has been released on several generations of consoles. Since its initial release over a decade ago, Skyrim has become one of the bestselling video games of all time.

FranchiseThe Elder ScrollsPlatform(s)PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 3ReleasedNovember 11, 2011Developer(s)Bethesda Game StudiosPublisher(s)Bethesda SoftworksGenre(s)Action, RPG, AdventureEngineCreation EngineESRBM For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of AlcoholExpansionsSkyrim: Hearthfire, Skyrim: Dragonborn, Skyrim: DawnguardHow Long To Beat35 HoursX|S EnhancedYesFile Size Xbox Series29 GB (DECEMBER 2023)Metascore96PS Plus AvailabilityExtra & Premium (Special Edition) See at AmazonSee at Playstation StoreSee at Epic Games StoreSee at SteamSee at Xbox Games StoreSee at Humble BundleSee at Nintendo eShopSee at Bethesda Official