Life is tough in the Wasteland, but for the Fallout IP, reality has proven to be even tougher. Fallout 3 developer/publisher Bethesda Softworks, and original Fallout games developer/publisher Interplay, have been waging a war of nearly thermonuclear proportions over the proposed Fallout MMORPG, to be co-developed by Interplay and Masthead.

Bethesda dropped the first bomb back in September, when the software giant filed suit against Interplay for violating a 2007 deal that saw Bethesda buy the Fallout IP for $5.75 million, then give Interplay licensing rights to make a Fallout-themed MMORPG. According to Bethesda, Interplay violated the agreement by selling the original Fallout games (Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout: Tactics) as a "trilogy," thereby deceiving consumers into believing that Fallout 3 was included. The deal also required Interplay to raise $30 million over 2 years in order to fund an MMORPG, which Bethesda claims Interplay failed to do. Naturally, Interplay countersued in October, accusing Bethesda of ten breaches of contract. The company wants to retain limited licensing rights for Fallout, or have the 2007 deal nullified altogether and the Fallout IP returned to Interplay. Interplay openly voiced its regrets about selling the IP when the art director of the original Fallout, Leonard Boyarsky, was quoted as saying, "It sort of felt as if our child had been sold to the highest bidder, and we had to just sit by and watch. Since I have absolutely no idea what their plans are, I can't comment on whether I think they're going in the right direction with it or not."

Prior to Fallout 3, Bethesda was best-known for The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and its expansions. Both games have won numerous awards including Game of the Year (Fallout 3 has won 23 awards overall at the time of this writing), and to Interplay's certain dismay, Fallout 3 has outsold all previous Fallout games combined, not to mention selling almost 60% faster than Oblivion. Bethesda even received a Guinness World Record for Fallout 3 as the "Fastest-Selling Multi Platform RPG" after it sold over 4.7 million copies in its first week alone. Fate has not been so kind to Interplay, however. Despite gifting the world with The Bard's Tale, Fallout and Baldur's Gate, the once-great developer has experienced severe financial problems, faced eviction by its landlord, and was even briefly shut down by the California government for not paying its employees. Now relegated to titles like "Boogerman," Interplay could certainly use the stimpak that a Fallout MMORPG is sure to provide.

Interplay has released the concept art as proof that the MMORPG, code-named "Project V13," is in active development, thus attempting to negate Bethesda's allegation that the necessary cash hasn't been raised. At least 2 members of the original Fallout development team have been rehired by Interplay, suggesting that the MMO is indeed a work-in-progress. For those of us who can't get enough of the Fallout franchise, the concept art is a carrot-on-a-stick as the seemingly endless legal battle wages on. But if it means that the Fallout MMO does have a future, however bleak it may appear right now, we'll take it.