Text Vault-Tec's number from the Fallout TV show to get a potential teaser for a November announcement

16.04.2024 - 13:27 / rockpapershotgun.com / Bethesda Softworks

I sort of reject that the Fallout TV show has Easter eggs hidden in it because it, as a whole, is the equivalent of one of those fancy Hotel Chocolat ostrich-sized patisserie collection bastards that cost 40 quid. However. Eagle-eyed viewers of the Fallout show noted that episode 6 gives you a number for Valt-Tec that you can actually get in touch with - 213-25-VAULT (or, 213-258-2858). Charges apply, as well as international codes if you're outside the US, which makes it 001-213-258-2858.

If you text the number you get a reply from Vault-Tec saying "The next available appointment is 33 weeks from now, please stand by!" (handily captured by X user FanaticalGuy cos my response hasn't come through yet). And then the significantly less immersive "Reply Y to get recurring marketing and other texts from FallOut", which is quite funny. There is speculation that this is just a reference to Vault 33, the vault where main character Lucy was born and raised. On the other hand, 33 weeks from now is November, the month when both Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 came out.

Are we going to see something about the new season, or possibly a new game? My sources say we'll mostly have forgotten about it by then, and then will go "Oh yeah!" by the time November comes around. This is base speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bethesda pull out the irradiated RPG card again. It's been almost 10 years since Fallout 4, and they announced The Elder Scrolls VI super early because they didn't have a lot going on in 2018 compared to a really busy 2017, and this year is looking pretty empty for them too. Plus Starfield was, you know, aggressively mid. A new Fallout would get people pumped again, especially with the positive reception the show has had. Heck, the old Fallout games are already catching some of the shine.

One thing's for sure: calling the number is disappointing, and will also make people think you're weird if they overhear it. It's just a guy screaming for 18 seconds - no background sound effects or anything - and frankly, given the money Amazon is working with, I'd have expected more from both the call and text. It's a tick in the "probably just a lazy reference to Vault 33 column". Why even bother if you're not going whole hog? Well, to capture people for marketing, I guess. Which is, in fairness, very Vault-Tec.

That kind of works with the context of the number appearing in the show, too. It pops up when Walton Goggins' Ghoul, in his pre-radiation incarnation as famous TV star Cooper Howard, does an infomercial for shady Valt-Tec encouraging people to call and secure a place in a Vault today. Knowing what we do about Vault-Tec, would you go Vault or take your chances in the wasteland? I guess Vault. Sure, you