Fallout 3 (2008)

Fallout 1 and 2 were formative gaming experiences for me, so I was immensely lucky to join Bethesda Game Studios soon after they acquired the development rights to Fallout 3. Another gift was shifting creatively from the sound design of Oblivion’s medieval fantasy realm  to an alternate future techno-apocalypse more akin to our own world.

Fallout 3 raised the bar for me in every aspect of audio: a far larger voice cast; celebrity voice actors; and the technical and sound design challenge of modern and modifiable weaponry. It was the first of many collaborations with composer Inon Zur. Fallout 3’s “Pipboy radio” also featured dozens of licensed songs, making this my first experience navigating the complex world of music licensing, something I would continue to do for several subsequent titles.

The challenge of shifting from Elder Scrolls to a completely different franchise pulled the entire development team together. We created a game with an entirely new look and feel, while always striving to maintain core elements of the original Fallout universe — and we somehow did it in under three years’ time.