After a stop/start 2024, DLC-sized New Vegas mod Fallout Nuevo Mexico finally bites the cancellation bullet

DLC-sized Fallout New Vegas mod Fallout Nuevo Mexico has now officially had its development cancelled, with its project lead citing a “need to prioritize my mental health and face reality”.

Fallout: Nuevo Mexico had been in the works since 2021, and promised a Fallout adventure set in the state of New Mexico, drawing a lot of inspiration from classic Fallout. Its development was put on hiatus in early 2024, but was taken off hold and resumed in August, as VG247 reported, before putting out a new trailer in October.

Now, however, it’s been cancelled for good, according to an announcement attributed to project lead Zapshock on the Nuevo Mexico Discord server, which reads as follows:

“I know this isn’t the kind of news you were expecting to see today, and trust me, it’s not easy for me to write this either. After a lot of reflection, I’ve made the difficult decision to cancel Fallout: Nuevo México,” they wrote, “This project has been my passion, my obsession, and a huge part of my life for years. I’ve poured thousands of hours into it, late nights, early mornings, and everything in between.

“I’ve met amazing people along the way, some who’ve become long term friends and helped me grow and evolve into a better person. Some of the best moments of my life have been spent bringing this world to life, and I’ll always be proud of the work we accomplished.

“But as much as I love this project, I need to prioritize my mental health and face reality. The team is small(less than 4), the workload enormous, and the costs ahead, both financial and personal, are too great. Continuing forward simply isn’t sustainable for me and everyone involved, including Voice Actors. Letting go of something you’ve poured your heart into is painful, but it’s necessary. These truly were my days of wine and roses, and I’ll always cherish them.

“To everyone who supported this project, from the kind words, the feedback, the excitement, to just believing in what we were trying to create, thank you from the bottom of my heart. This message covers everything, so I kindly ask for your understanding. As Fallout: New Vegas (Dead Money) taught us: “But getting there, that’s not the hard part. It’s letting go”.

This isn’t the sole ambitious Fallout modding project to have its development come to a halt in recent history, with another, Fallout: Vault 13 having been suspended by its devs in October last year, after having put out a sucessful demo only a couple of months prior.