Summary
- Fallout: Nuevo Mexico, a DLC-sized mod for Fallout: New Vegas, has been canceled.
- An announcement from the lead developer explains why it is important for the team to let go of the project.
- Without any official Fallout releases anytime soon, the modding scene continues to give life to the series.
With Fallout 5 far off into the future, the Fallout modding scene has taken the reins of the series, giving us plenty of worthwhile experiences in the meantime. Massive overhaul mods like Fallout: London offer enormous experiences with the typical Fallout voice acting, combat, and exploration.
Sadly, one of the most exciting Fallout mods to be announced in recent years, Fallout: Nuevo Mexico, has been canceled by the developers. This isn’t the first time we’ve gotten rocky development news for this project, as it was previously put on hold in 2024.
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This project wasn’t just conceptual, as it appeared to be full steam into development, with a crew of voice actors, programmers, and artists working behind the scenes to craft a DLC-sized addition to the base game Fallout: New Vegas.
The project lead, Zapshock544, announced the cancellation on January 27th through the official discord server. This announcement cleared up some issues but, most importantly, explained that the project itself “simply isn’t sustainable” for their team to complete.
Fallout: Nuevo Mexico was set in Mexico a few years after the events of the original Fallout. The world was crafted with a lot of experimental ideas, such as unique factions, characters, and locations created by fans of the series.
Unlike most popular mods, like Fallout: London, Nuevo Mexico was being modded in New Vegas instead of Fallout 4. With New Vegas being an extremely experimental take on the franchise, it was a perfect fit for Nuevo Mexico‘s ambiance.
Although it hasn’t been officially revealed, this could have been one reason for the cancellation. Modding New Vegas is much harder, and because the developers largely had to create their own assets for Nuevo Mexico, this could explain a lot of the strain felt during development. Zapshock stated:
I need to prioritize my mental health and face reality. The team is small(less than 4), the workload enormous, and the costs ahead, both financial and personal, are too great.
Although the game had a massive community of fans supporting it, it’s hard to make such a massive project with such a limited team. Although the mod had looked solid so far, the writing was on the wall that they simply couldn’t continue development in it’s current state.
The Sad Fate Of Nuevo Mexico
The saddest part of this cancelation is how fantastic the game has looked thus far, with a terrific trailer released only a few months back. As a huge fan of New Vegas, Nuevo Mexico was a glimpse at a Fallout game style we’ve largely strayed away from.
Bethesda and Todd Howard have jumped the shark and announced a Planned Fallout 5 too soon. With little word about the upcoming Elder Scrolls 6, I wouldn’t expect a Bethesda Fallout game until 2030 at the earliest.
With Obsidian now a part of the Microsoft family, fans have theorized a Fallout: New Vegas spiritual successor. But to be honest, us Fallout fans have just grown desperate, especially with the successful TV show rubbing salt in our wounds, driving us to return to our now decades-old games.
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As Zapshock stated in their final message, “Letting go of something you’ve poured your heart into is painful, but it’s necessary.” Although we may wish that this project was never canceled, it seems to have been the best outcome for the project.
Although there are rumors that Nuevo Mexico may return in some shape or form, the project appears to be dead for now. At the very least, some other mods, like Fallout: Miami, can keep us excited for the coming years.
Despite this sad ending for the project, Zapshock has made it clear that they are extremely proud of their team and the work they accomplished. They quote the New Vegas Dead Money DLC at the end of the announcement as “getting there, that’s not the hard part. It’s letting go.”
- Released
- October 19, 2010
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Engine
- Gamebryo
- How Long To Beat
- 28 Hours
- Metascore
- 84
- PS Plus Availability
- Premium
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