On the list of franchises that never needed a reality game series, Fallout might top the list, alongside Netflix’s Squid Game. Real-life Vault-Tec — AKA Amazon — has ordered a Fallout Shelter game show, based on the half-decent mobile game, that’ll stick contestants into real-life vaults — AKA “an immersive world” — to compete for huge cash prizes. Just… without the threat of a nuclear apocalypse to worry about. Yet, anyway.
Take shelter, Amazon’s on a roll
The ten-episode series will be produced by Studio Lambert, which handles Undercover Boss and Netflix’s own Squid Game: The Challenge. The new game show comes right as Fallout strays from a topic of discussion amongst your peers, and something that even your mom is bringing up amongst her friends, nudged along by Amazon’s scripted and excellent Fallout series, currently serving its second season.
The last time studios began propping up unscripted reality series ahead of their primetime content was during the 2007-2008 writers’ strike, which gave birth to many of the staples in the genre. Worryingly, Amazon’s “expanding global slate of premium unscripted series,” which includes Beast Games, comes long after the recent 2023 strike.
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“The new series will blend large-scale challenges with deeply social, psychological, and narrative-driven gameplay, staying true to the tone, world-building, and choice-driven ethos that have defined Fallout for over 25 years,” Amazon wrote in its announcement.
The worst bit? Audiences will lap up whatever Amazon throws their way, evidenced by the recent casting calls for season three of Beast Games. Fallout Shelter will undoubtedly be a success, given that it’ll be available across 240 countries and territories at launch. When that’ll be, the company hasn’t said. Casting is officially open; however, the project hopes to get shooting sometime in June of this year.
