Understanding the hierarchy of importance among your products is paramount to a company's success in the gaming industry. Some know how to play their cards just right, some take their sweet time in getting there (Square Enix, Final Fantasy VII Remake), while others make decisions that seem to ignore that very logic (Nintendo, Metroid Prime: Federation Force). This is not to suggest that smaller games with alternative takes on the universes they draw their content from, like Metroid Prime: Federation Force shouldn't be made or can't work. But timing is everything, and the difference between Bethesda and many other companies, is that they understand how to make the most of their announcements.
Bethesda's Marketing VP, Pete Hines recently gave an interview with GamesIndustry, explaining the team's mobile strategy as it pertained to Fallout Shelter.
If we tried to do this last year without announcing what Bethesda Game Studios was doing [Fallout 4] and said, 'Oh we're doing a game and it's on mobile and it's called Fallout Shelter,' we'd probably get lynched, right?" Hines said. "There would be pitchforks at the gate. 'That's not the Fallout we asked for, you bastards!' But doing it this way, they're like, 'I'm getting what I want and oh, by the way, while I wait here's this other free thing that's fun to play.'
Since it's launch, Fallout Shelter has quickly rose through the rankings, recently over taking the mighty Candy Crush Saga as the third highest grossing game on the App Store. Hines also noted that the company is "pretty pleased right now with how well it's doing" and revealed that the company has "plans for supporting it going forward in the way of content."
Currently, Fallout Shelter is only available for iOS devices but plans to release it on Android in the coming months.
