Project V13

Project V13 is the codename of an unannounced massively multiplayer online game being developed by Interplay and Masthead Studios. Chris Taylor, one of the creators of Fallout, is one of the lead developers. Jason Anderson, one of the other makers of Fallout, was involved in the project between 2007 and 2009, but has since left the team.

While not officially announced as such yet, it is believed to be Fallout Online, nicknamed FOOL by the fans, an MMORPG set in the Fallout world, since Interplay licensed the rights to such a game after selling the rights to Fallout to Bethesda Softworks and since the makers of the original Fallout are involved. The rights are currently the subject of a legal dispute between Bethesda and Interplay.

See also: Fallout Online FAQ.

Development team

 * Jason D. Anderson - Creative Director (2007-2009)
 * Chris Taylor - Lead Systems Designer
 * Serg Souleiman - Lead Concept Artist
 * Natiq Aghayev - Concept Artist

Past attempts
According to Feargus Urquhart, when Brian Fargo was still the president of Interplay, Fargo proposed a possible Fallout MMO to be made by Black Isle, but Urquhart refused:


 * "The reason at the time, because I would have loved to have made a Fallout MMO, was that I believed that Interplay was just not in a situation where they had the resources to do it. When you go off to do an MMO it's going to cost $100 million before you get it on the shelf; you've gotta buy servers and you've gotta have service people, and you have to have Game Masters. It's an undertaking, and on top of that, it means that you do have to do all that stuff so what else are you going to focus on? What other games are you going to be able to make?"

Interplay/Masthead project
In April 2007, SEC filings were made showing the purchase of the IP for the Fallout MMO to Fallout 3 developer Bethesda Softworks for $5.75 million (USD). While Bethesda became the owner of the Fallout IP, clauses in the purchase agreement allowed Interplay to license the rights to the development of the MMO.

Specific requirements were stated in the agreement that if not met, Interplay would immediately lose and forfeit its license rights for Fallout. Development must begin within 24 months of the date of the agreement (April 4, 2007), and Interplay must secure $30 million within that time frame or forfeit its rights to license. Interplay must furthermore launch the MMOG within 4 years of the beginning of development, and pay Bethesda 12 percent of sales and subscription fees for the use of the IP.

On August 1, 2007, ZeniMax Media Inc., parent company of Bethesda Softworks, announced the creation of ZeniMax Online Studios. The division will be headed by Matt Firor, a well-known expert in the field of online gaming, and will focus on the Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMO) market segment. It might work on a Fallout MMO in the future, if Interplay fails to gather enough money for their Fallout Online project.

In November 2007, Interplay reopened in-house development and hired Fallout developer Jason D. Anderson as creative director for an unannounced MMO. Given the aforementioned facts, it's most likely that the game Anderson was working on is Interplay's Fallout MMO, given that he was the contact name of Interplay's jobs appliance and that Fallout was referred in the job requirements. In March 2009, Anderson left Interplay and joined InXile Entertainment.

On June 30, 2008, it was announced that Interactive Game Group, LLC (created by Frederic Chesnais, former Chief Executive Officer of Atari, which now also owns MicroProse) purchased 2,000,000 shares of Interplay stock, as consideration for entering into a game production agreement, likely related to Fallout Online.

On April 2, 2009 Interplay announced a binding letter of intent with Masthead Studios, a Bulgarian-based developer, to fund the development of Project V13. Masthead and Interplay teams will work together under the direction and control of Interplay to complete development of the project.

Legal dispute
On April 15, 2009, it was announced that Bethesda Softworks moved to rescind the Fallout MMORPG license. Interplay received notice from Bethesda that it intends to terminate the trademark license agreement, claiming that Interplay is in breach of the agreement for failure to commence full scale development by April 4, 2009 and to secure certain funding for the game. Interplay disputes these claims.

On July 15, 2009 Interplay's Project V13 developer Chris Taylor posted a reply on the Interplay website "Project V13" Forum thread refuting the claims that Interplay lost the rights to the Fallout MMORPG.

On September 8, 2009 Bethesda has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Interplay in the Maryland District Court.