Pittsburgh in ruins? City returns to ‘Fallout’ game universe in 2022
For the second time, a post-nuclear Pittsburgh will be featured in one of the world’s most popular video-game franchises.
During last weekend’s E3 trade conference, Bethesda Game Studio premiered a trailer for expanded content in “Fallout 76,” the latest installment in its postapocalyptic action series released in November 2018 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The trailer begins inside a wrecked vehicle. The camera slowly pans out to reveal a desolate urban environment and eventually settles on a sign that reads “Welcome to The Pitt.” “Expeditions: The Pitt” will be available for download in conjunction with “Fallout 76” sometime in 2022.
“Fallout” fans will recognize “The Pitt” from its first appearance as DLC (downloadable content) in “Fallout 3,” which rolled out in 2009. It was the rare video game to prominently feature a Pittsburgh locale other than Heinz Field, which is re-created in EA Sports’ yearly “Madden NFL” offerings.
The original version of “The Pitt” showed ravaged versions of the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning, the 10th Street Bridge and what appeared to be the smoldering remains of PPG Plaza. Pete Hines, Bethesda’s product manager for “Fallout 3,” told the Post-Gazette at the time the studio “took a lot of artistic license” with its rendering of Pittsburgh and created a “wacky, googly architectural style” for its decimated cityscape.
“We hear from people who say, ‘Oh yeah, I recognize that building,’ or, ‘I know that bridge.’ It’s one of those things that creates some sort of loose ties to reality.”
No word yet on which Steel City landmarks will show up in “Expedition: The Pitt” or in what state of radioactive disrepair they’ll be displayed.