Highlights
- Fallout 3’s Steam description sparks fan theory that all game events are a simulation within a simulation.
- The theory suggests that Vault-Tec software is used in the game as an educational simulation of Capital Wasteland for vault dwellers.
- Despite the popular fan theory, the Steam description might just be meta humor from Bethesda.
An official description of Fallout 3 on Steam has caused one fan to question whether the events of the game are actually happening within its world or if they’re all part of a simulation within a simulation. While the events of Fallout 3 contain some pretty mind-bending content, this theory makes those events seem even more meta.
Released in 2008, Fallout 3 was Bethesda Softworks’ first outing in the Fallout franchise after acquiring it from its original production team at Interplay Productions. Shifting Fallout away from the NCR and heading east to Washington, D.C., part of the game’s main storyline involves a run-in with a new character, Dr. Stanislaus Braun, who oversees a vault in which all the residents are unwittingly trapped in a simulation of a peaceful black-and-white pre-war neighborhood called Tranquility Lane. Much like Dr. Braun’s experiment, this new fan theory based on the Steam description centers around none of the events of the game actually happening to the characters.
Fallout 3 Megaton Recreated in Far Cry 5
A Far Cry 5 player accurately recreates the iconic Fallout 3 location Megaton using the extensive catalog of Arcade game mode tools.
As pointed out on Reddit by user Senior_Reflection949, the Steam description makes the game sound like a Vault-Tec product that would be used by residents of the fictitious company’s radiation-proof underground vaults to see what life would be like in the outside world. “Vault-Tec engineers have worked around the clock on an interactive reproduction of Wasteland life for you to enjoy from the comfort of your own vault,” it states. “Included is an expansive world, unique combat, shockingly realistic visuals, tons of player choice, and an incredible cast of dynamic characters.” Based on that information, the player has developed a theory that vault dwellers would presumably use the software as an educational simulation of the Capital Wasteland from Fallout without actually experiencing it for themselves.
The Fallout 3 Simulation Theory Has Its Detractors
While a lot of people seem to find the fan theory amusing, most seem to see it as problematic. Specifically, some have questioned why Vault-Tec would produce a piece of software that either admits to its customers living in vaults that it uses those same vaults to conduct unethical social experiments or, otherwise, pretends that it does. Of course, some other Fallout fans have their own theories behind that perceived weakness in the original theory, with one stating that Vault-Tec wants the software’s users to be happy that they’re in one of the control vaults and another theorizing that the software is intended as orientation material for new vault overseers in Fallout.
In reality, the Steam description is likely just a fun, harmless bit of meta humor from Bethesda that doesn’t dramatically alter the nature of the game’s story. It does, however, offer a unique twist on the way players perceive the games as Fallout surges in popularity thanks to the Amazon Prime streaming series.
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 is the third installment of the mainline series and has players stepping into the Capital Wasteland. There, they will find a wide array of NPCs, side quests, and an engrossing unfolding story.
- Released
- October 28, 2008
- How Long To Beat
- 23 Hours
- Metascore
- 93
