Fallout 4, despite the title having received no official announcement, is fast becoming one of the most hotly anticipated games since its predecessor’s 2008 release. Now, with Fallout 3 having graced stores over six years ago, fans of the post-apocalyptic franchise are champing at the bit for sequel announcements.
Unfortunately, we’re all prone to getting overly excitable at the mere hint of new information, hazy screenshots and non-descript PR statements. That’s why it comes as little surprise that a so-called “leaked” promo poster for Fallout 4 is entirely fake.
The poster, which has been doing the rounds on a number of video game forums and social networks, makes reference to a pre-order exclusive with video game retailer GAME. The faux-advertisement featured an ominous November, 2015, release date that suggested the “Nuclear Edition” of the game would hit the shelves before the year’s close.
The posters were uploaded by YouTuber ResiMadMan, who added the following snippet of information in the video’s description box: “We received these posters today in my store. We are not allowed to display them until June 15th. Fallout 4 Nuclear Edition is going to retail for £69.99 here in UK. Also in the parcel was posters for Elder Scrolls Online and a memo.”
Sadly, the news was too good to be true. Thanks to a keen eye over at Gamepur, the Fallout 4 poster’s small print reveals all: “Fallout 4 is coming out in 2015 or 2016 and should be an epic game. If you can read this then unfortunately, this is another hoax by Jesse.” We don’t know who Jesse is, but we wish him all the best in the eternal depths of hell.
This isn’t the first time Fallout fans have been duped by cruel pranksters. The Survivor 2299 website was designed to bring the Fallout community together to solve a slew of cryptic clues, while, at the same time, forcing Bethesda’s hand. The perpetrator, “DCHoaxer,” later revealed that he had hoped the stunt would prompt Bethesda to make a Fallout-related announcement at VGX. During an AMA on reddit, he explained how Survivor 2299 had cost almost $1,000 to pull off. While this clearly marks an unparalleled level of dedication, I beseech DCHoaxer to put those efforts towards job hunting.
In other news, there’s the new Doom…