Fallout TV show's popularity doubled sales of the series' tabletop games, sold out the official RPG
Tabletop catches a big dose of radiation from Amazon’s post-nuclear wasteland adaptation.
Everybody’s caught Fallout Fever following the success of the first season of the Amazon-produced series adapting Bethesda’s beloved RPG video game series. The adventures of Lucy, Maximus and Walton Goggin’s slick cowboy Ghoul has sent people clamouring for more post-apocalyptic stories, and that includes Modiphius’ several Fallout tabletop games.
As reported by BoardGameWire, the UK-based publisher is enjoying a spike of interest and sales riding off the back of Fallout’s initial 8-episode run. Amazon claims 65 million people tuned in during the first two weeks, cementing its place right behind Lord of the Rings prequel Rings of Power in terms of most-watched titles on the platform.
A spokesperson for Modiphius told BoardGameWire that fervour for Fallout started before the television show began, selling out their existing stock of the Fallout RPG’s core rulebooks and sending them scrambling to restock - you can currently preorder the book on Modiphius’ website. They similarly unloaded copies of Fallout: Wasteland Warfare’s starter set, which allows two players to jump into the miniatures game based heavily off the designs and lore of Fallout 4. Modiphius claims more stock should arrive for that title in the next couple of weeks.
Modiphius’ monthly sales apparently more than doubled in the wake of the Fallout TV series, largely centred on tabletop RPG material and an upswing in website views - and thus in the publisher’s mind, interest - in their upcoming Fallout Factions game. Smaller and quicker than Wasteland Warfare, the upcoming skirmisher will let players tackle narrative battles and gradually develop your motley crew of survivors, mutants, robots and ghouls.
Modiphius recently released a suite of miniatures modelled after Lucy and Co. (including Dogmeat!) that players could use in their own home games. It wouldn’t be surprising to see an adventure or sourcebook for the tabletop RPG that weaves an adventure through the show’s version of the West Coast wasteland, throughout all the vaults, Shady Sands and beyond. Although, nothing is stopping you from doing that now. Go on - put blue jumpsuit-wearing Kyle McLaughlin in your game.
Fallout-mania is also paying dividends for Magic: The Gathering’s publisher, Wizards of the Coast. The recent Universes Beyond Commander set, which sold a collection of four preconstructed, 100-card decks for the popular trading card game format, has sold better than any other Commander product, according to the company. Notable characters, locations and items represented on cardboard have drawn Fallout fans by the droves, helped along by the TV series explosive (ahem) success. Expect that to continue, as Amazon has already ordered a second season, though no release date has yet been announced.