Fallout 3 player finds hidden vault after 16 years that we all missed

A Fallout 3 player has noticed something while replaying the classic game, and it points to a very familiar Fallout experience that came over a decade later.

Reporting their findings on Reddit, BoyDynamo showcased a few screenshots that showed Bethesda may have been thinking long into the future while making Fallout 3.

Fallout 76 will be getting an official expansion soon that lets you play as a ghoul.

It seems that while scavenging and picking through computer logs, Vault 76 was mentioned.

If you’re familiar with the Fallout franchise, you’ll be aware that this vault is where players emerge in the MMORPG Fallout 76.

Whether this is genuine foreshadowing or Fallout 76 was retroactively used after this initial mention is hard to say, but it does show just how interconnected all of Fallout is.

BigJuicy17 brings this up in their comment, “I'm not sure they were planning the games for that long. It could have just been adding more lore, then later on deciding to use it.”

With so much lore that came before, much like in Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series, there are hundreds of plot points to revisit when it comes to making new games.

Fellow Redditor belyy_Volk6 points out, “I wouldn't be surprised if they have a document with a paragraph or so about each vault in a lore bible somewhere. Vague enough to be fleshed out later but a list of ideas for future games.”

Regardless of when inspiration hit for the mention of Vault 76, it’s always great to see callbacks and foreshadowing used in such an expansive series.

“Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, and 76 are all hinted at in this game. Lyons tells the character of troubles back west, Zimmer has a synth retention quest, and Vault 76 is mentioned in a terminal and by an alien abductee,” says Chueskes in the thread, which leaves us wanting more Fallout soon.

We’ll be waiting a long time though as Bethesda is hard at work on Elder Scrolls VI first.