A 'deeply social, psychological' Fallout Shelter reality TV series is coming from the producers of the Squid Game reality series

The Fallout TV series is a hit, and so Prime is taking the obvious next step and firing up a "reality competition series" called, and based on, Fallout Shelter, a popular 2015 mobile game (that later came to PC and consoles) in which players design and manage one of Fallout's underground Vaults, where the survivors of nuclear war hide from the irradiated wasteland above.

Fallout Shelter may not be the most action-packed game in the series, but you can't have people running around with high-powered weaponry popping each other's skulls like giant mutated zits in the real world—not yet, anyway. So, Fallout Shelter is a practical compromise, and it's also true to Bethesda's take on the setting: Cram a bunch of people into a small space, make them suffer, and see what happens.

From the full Amazon announcement: "Set inside Vault-Tec's bomb-proof vaults, Fallout Shelter drops a diverse group of contestants into an immersive, high-stakes world inspired by the games' signature dark humor, retro-futurism, and post-apocalyptic survival storytelling. Across a series of escalating challenges, strategic dilemmas, and moral crossroads, contestants must prove their ingenuity, teamwork, and resilience as they compete for safety, power, and ultimately a huge cash prize.

"The new series will blend large-scale challenges with deeply social, psychological, and narrative-driven gameplay, staying true to the tone, world-building, and choice-driven ethos that have defined Fallout for over 25 years."

Sounds utterly miserable to me, and not just because life in a post-apocalyptic world is something I'd rather only experience in a videogame: If you ask me, reality television is a low-effort pop-culture pustule whose greatest ambition is momentary titillation and distraction. But it's also a monumentally popular format, to the extent that Squid Game, the dystopian series in which poor people are exploited by being offered incredible amounts of money if they can survive a series of cruel, murderous games, was made into an actual reality series.

There is actually a connection between the Squid Game reality show and Fallout Shelter: They're both produced by Studio Lambert, along with Fallout series producer Kilter Films, Amazon MGM Studios, and Bethesda.

If you'd like to take part in this post-nuclear competition for an unspecified (but huge!) cash prize, you've got until February 15 to put your name in the hat at castitreach.com. Note that you need to be at least 21, have a valid passport and be legally allowed (and willing) to travel in the US and UK, subject to "a background check, physical and psychological examinations," and meet various other requirements and conditions. Filming is currently expected to take place in June 2026, and will run for three weeks: Good luck, have fun. (Or not, as the case may be.)