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Players Purchased $5.1 Million's Worth Of Lunchboxes In Fallout Shelter
Bethesda's Fallout-themed simulation of post-apocalyptic life in a vault is raking in a lot of bottle caps. The free-to-play Fallout Shelter made $5.1 million for Bethesda in the first two weeks of its release.
Bethesda first announced Fallout Shelter a month ago during E3 2015. The reveal of the game came as a surprise to fans, as did news that it would be available on Apple's App Store the same day. The game lets players manage their vault dwellers offline and purchase lunchboxes filled with useful goodies via microtransactions if they choose. The game quickly soared to the top of the App Store. Apparently, enough players have decided to pony up enough pre-war money to help Bethesda earn over $5 million dollars, and that's just the last half of June.
Android users will be able to step into the shoes of a busy Overseer when it hits next month. You can read our review of the game here.
Our Take
Bethesda's release of Fallout Shelter during E3 may have been a surprise, but the sustaining buzz around the game since the show makes today's news of profitability less shocking. Fallout Shelter won the respect of fans thanks to its unobtrusive free-to-play model; players can play the game consistently without out being interrupted by obvious, insidious paywalls. The mobile title isn't my cup of tea (or Nuka-Cola), but I'm happy to see Bethesda's foray into the mobile space has paid off.
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