Bethesda, you tease!
Decoded by Reddit user as “I AM SORRY TO INFORM YOU, BUT I’M AFRAID THEY’RE DEAD. YOUR LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM IS JUST FINE. WELCOME TO THE INSTITUTE. THE ONLY SAFE PLACE TO BE IN THIS WORLD.”
A mysterious Fallout teaser website appeared on the interwebz on November 15th, sending the online fandom into a frenzy of speculation and excitement. It contains a series of cryptographic Shift ciphers, Morse codes and a countdown clock. But what evidence is there to suspect The Survivor 2299 beckons a new Fallout sequel?
People more code-savvy than I have been digging around in the site’s Java Script code and found a number of references specific to Fallout as well as similar website parameters to other Bethesda sites. And that font? Come on - we recognise that font! The domain is also owned by ZeniMax Media, which owns Bethesda. Furthermore, Bethesda have a history of revealing big news this time of year. However there a number of inconsistencies with the domain details which could suggest a hoax.
Bethesda refused however to comment on whether or not they owned the web domain and have stressed that no trailers will be shown at Saturday’s Spike VGX awards. Besides, the countdown clock is post-Saturday. But the refusal to comment kinda says it all. Doesn’t it?
What the screenshot at the top doesn’t show is an interesting update that appeared transiently just above the countdown clock reading, “Nuclear winter is coming.” Reminiscent of Game Of Thrones? Yes, but definitely not relevant. In fact, at one point, it even said “Nuclear winter is coming. Reserve your future home today! 877-260-2299″. If you rang the number you were met with a recorded message playing the Tranquility Lane music from Fallout 3. This was followed by a Morse code signal that translates into CODE7667, which has made a number of confusing appearances since, found by a number of very clever Reddit users. Chills.
Lack of references to New Vegas lead me to favour the idea of it being set in the Capital Wasteland, the ruins of Washington D.C., 22 years after the events of Fallout 3. This is close to the conspiring truth, but is rumoured that Fallout 4 will take place in Boston, Massachusetts since the Bethesda team took a research trip there over a year ago. In addition, the hidden messages have pointed to a Vault 119 located at the Quabbin Reservoir, also in Massachusetts.
If this website is legitimate then it is an unbelievably cool and clever, interactive marketing campaign. On the other hand, are we all just being majorly trolled by the site’s creator? And more importantly, what will happen tomorrow?