The Mod Team Saw No “Fully Legal” Way to Continue Development
The team behind a Fallout 3 remake mod for Fallout 4 announced on Monday that they’ve ceased development due to legal concerns with the mod’s use of Fallout 3’s audio files.
The Project Lead behind the mod, NafNaf_95, described the decision to end development as “honestly one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make.”
In a statement announcing the cancellation, he said that when his team had contacted Bethesda about using the original audio files from Fallout 3 for their remake mod, several unforeseen “red flags” sprung up during their conversation and eventually the team saw that there was no way to continue development legally.
“If we were to continue and complete Fallout 3 in Fallout 4, legally I, as the project lead, would most probably be liable for any acts of piracy and copyright infringement resulting from the project’s release,” NafNaf_95 explained in the statement. “My self and the Road to Liberty team do not wish to strain the working relationships with other members of the community and Bethesda.”
“At first, we were very reluctant to halt work and decided to start looking into re-recording all the voice acting,” said the project lead. “We quickly realized we would have to replace iconic voices like Liam Neeson, Malcom McDowell, Ron Perlman and of course the phenomenal Eric Todd Dellums. Without some of these voices Fallout 3 loses its charm and personally I can’t bring myself to replace them.”
“If at any point in the future it becomes fully legal for us to continue working with the blessing of Bethesda and Zenimax we will,” the statement read.
The cancelled mod, Capital Wasteland: A Road to Liberty Project, was supposed to remake Fallout 3 with the Fallout 4 engine. The mod team had released extensive gameplay of the mod last month and were still looking for more help with its development.
What’s your reaction to this cancellation? Was Bethesda in the right? Should the mod team have gone forward with re-recording all those lines of dialogue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!