Wasteland 2 FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about a possible future Wasteland 2 by InXile Entertainment.

Production and release

What is Wasteland 2?

Wasteland 2 is a possible future sequel to Wasteland, a 1988 post-apocalyptic computer roleplaying game created by Interplay Productions, which was the predecessor of the more widely known Fallout series.

Who will be making it?

The founder of Interplay and one of the original designers of Wasteland, Brian Fargo, left Interplay and founded a new company called InXile Entertainment in 2003 and indicated that he wants to make a new Wasteland game.

InXile also hired Jason Anderson, one of the creators of Fallout, as creative director for a new, unannounced role-playing game which might be Wasteland 2. However, he left the company in January 2011 to join Turtle Rock Studios.

But didn't Electronic Arts own it?

The rights to the title were owned by Electronic Arts, but when they expired, Konami registered the trademark for use with their Yu-Gi-Oh series. In 2003, InXile acquired the rights to the Wasteland title from Konami.

But will it really be made?

While on June 21, 2007, Brian Fargo said, "I am indeed looking into bringing back the game that spawned the Fallout series. Stay tuned...." in an interview with fan site Duck and Cover, no new official Wasteland 2 information has surfaced since then. In March 2009 it was announced that Fallout creator Jason Anderson will work at InXile as a creative director on a new role playing game which might be Wasteland 2.

In March 2012 Brian Fargo has started a campaign Kickstarter for funding the game, for a goal of 900.000 $. The goal was reached then the game will be made. They met that goal the next day and the amount of money going into this project is still rising.

Is this the project known as Meantime?

No, Meantime was a game canceled in the early 1990s, which used an updated version of Wasteland's engine and was a sequel to Wasteland in terms of game mechanics, but had an entirely unrelated story focused on time travel.

Wasn't a Wasteland sequel released already?

Fountain of Dreams was initially marketed by Electronic Arts as a sequel to Wasteland, but although it shared many gameplay mechanics with it, as well as a similar setting, it was created by an entirely different team and is not considered a "true" sequel.

While the Fallout series is considered to be a spiritual successor to Wasteland, it is not an official sequel (although it was initially developed as one), because Interplay did not have the rights to Wasteland at that point.

Story

Will the game be a remake or a sequel? Or maybe something unrelated?

Currently, it is only known that InXile has the rights to the Wasteland title, but it is unknown whether any rights to the original game's story were also acquired from Electronic Arts. It is therefore likely that the game will not refer to any of the events from the original Wasteland at all.

Gameplay

Will it be an action-RPG, like the new Bard's Tale?

On Kickstarter, Brian Fargo was quoted, saying the following about Wasteland 2:

"We’re going back to the original and building from there. No first person shooter, we’re going top down so you get a tactical feel for the situation. And we’re not ditching the party play to turn it into some hack-and-slash bloodfest. It’s turn based, tactical, with a storyline that will be deeper and broader.

We’re determined to keep the gritty, grim and satirical writing. We’re going to pitch those moral dilemmas at you. You’re going to be faced with the consequences of your actions."

Will the same or similar character creation system be used?

The original game's mechanics were based directly on those used in the role-playing games Tunnels and Trolls and Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes created by Ken St. Andre and Michael A. Stackpole, who were also among the designers of Wasteland. Therefore, to use the same system InXile would have to license it from them or involve them in the creation of the game.