Colorado Bound: Fallout Season 3 Takes the Franchise to New Snowy Frontiers
Get your snow gear ready, Wastelanders. Following the explosive Season 2 finale, Prime Video has officially confirmed that Fallout Season 3 will head to Colorado.
This move marks a significant “first” for the franchise’s main canon. While Colorado was the setting for the now-decanonized 2001 game Fallout Tactics, it has never been explored in the core Bethesda games or the live-action series until now.
The Reveal: A Postcard from the Peak
The shift to Colorado was meticulously set up in the Season 2 finale, “The Strip.” In the episode’s closing moments, The Ghoul (Cooper Howard) finally reaches the cryogenic chambers where he believes his family is stored. Instead of finding his wife Barb and daughter Janey, he finds their pods empty.
The only thing left behind is a postcard from Colorado with a handwritten note: “Colorado was a good idea.” This confirms that Barb and Janey survived and suggests they have relocated to the mountainous state—likely to the rumored Enclave headquarters.
Why Colorado?
Showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Executive Producer Jonathan Nolan explained that the decision to move the story east was driven by two main factors:
- The “Fresh Snow” Aesthetic: After two seasons of desert heat and irradiated ruins in California and Nevada, the showrunners wanted to explore a wintery, mountainous environment.
- The Western Genre: Colorado allows the series to maintain its rugged, “Western” roots while introducing new factions and survival challenges unique to the Rockies.
Production Timeline: What We Know So Far
While Season 2 only just concluded its run on Prime Video, the wheels for Season 3 are already turning.
- Filming Start Date: Production is scheduled to begin on May 1, 2026.
- Primary Location: Much of the filming will return to Santa Clarita, California, which serves as the production hub for the show’s massive practical sets.
- Estimated Release: Based on previous turnaround times, fans can expect Season 3 to premiere in early to mid-2027.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Colorado in any of the Fallout games? Directly, no. It was the setting for Fallout Tactics, but that game is not considered part of the main canon. However, Fallout: New Vegas mentions that Caesar’s Legion has conquered most of the Colorado territory, which could hint at the factions we will see in Season 3.
Will Lucy and Maximus go to Colorado too? As of the Season 2 finale, Lucy and Maximus are still in New Vegas, where a massive battle between the NCR and Caesar’s Legion is brewing. The Ghoul is currently the only one officially heading toward Colorado.
Who is the new villain for Season 3? The finale teased several threats: the rise of Caesar’s Legion in the Mojave, the Brotherhood of Steel’s development of the iconic Liberty Prime robot, and the shadowy presence of the Enclave potentially based in Colorado.
