Fallout creators were going to buy the franchise, but Bethesda came with its big offer
The original developers failed to obtain the rights.
Now Fallout is associated with Bethesda by many, but it originally belonged to Interplay. Company founder Brian Fargo told Game Informer about how the franchise got to its new owner.
In the mid-2000s, Interplay experienced financial difficulties and a related lawsuit "forced [Interplay] to sell all rights to Fallout Bethesda."
According to Brian, "the only asset they could really sell was Fallout." The creators of the original game also showed interest in buying the franchise.
Fallout art director Leonard Boyarsky, who left Interplay to found Troika Games with Tim Cain and Jason Anderson - the studio developer of Arcanum and Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines - tried to acquire the rights before they went to Bethesda.
Boyarsky said that the developers had potential investors who could finance the deal, but nothing came of it:
"We had interest from potential investors, but we weren't even given a chance to make an offer.
And then added:
It wouldn't have mattered whether they heard our offer or not, because they would have just laughed.
Reportedly, Bethesda eventually paid about $5.75 million for Fallout.
