Fallout TV show sneaks in New Vegas lead designer's map of the setting

It feels like we're going to be mining the Fallout TV show for new nuggets of information for years, kind of like the way people in the show's settlement of Filly survive by mining the sinking trash of their home. Here's an example: I only just realized it's called Filly because it's a landfill, not because it's Philadelphia. Forgive me, I'm Australian. This is why I need a map of Fallout's United States, which is conveniently the latest thing to be uncovered, hidden in plain sight on Fallout's TV incarnation.

The map appears behind the TV weatherman we see on the show, and it's clearly not a map of the United States as they are in our timeline. It's actually the version Fallout: New Vegas lead designer and project coordinator Josh Sawyer drew for his home-grown Fallout TTRPG, and he replied to a tweet pointing out the map's appearance on the show saying, "[me looking at this 20 years later] what fuckin dipshit drew this up".

looks like the @Fallout TV show finally canonized the (previously unofficial) borders of the Thirteen Commonwealths from @jesawyer's map pic.twitter.com/K8gDrYWMWLApril 18, 2024

What makes this map different is that it illustrates a USA where the states have coalesced into 13 super-states with names like Gulf, Plains, and Eastern. (Texas is just called Texas, though it has incorporated Arkansas.) This tracks with the American flag seen in the games, which only has 13 stars on it.

A second season of Fallout has been confirmed, and we've put together a list of things we'd like to see from its continuation. Mostly it's just Norm. Give us more Norm and we'll be happy. 

Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors.