Fallout 3 Remastered toy listing pops up on pre-order website, and we sure are nearly at Oblivion Remastered's 1-year anniversary, aren't we?

Sometimes I wonder if the games industry isn't in a mechanical sort of denial. I guess there are all sorts of ongoing problems and crises that could refer to, but today I mean the way companies continue to act like their secrets are secret even when they are very much not. See: Ubisoft acting like everyone and their grandma didn't know a Black Flag remake was cooking and, today, Bethesda pretending everyone doesn't know a Fallout 3 remaster is a matter of when, not if.

Because Fallout 3 Remastered seems to have leaked. Again. This time, it came via toy listings posted on Bro Depot and spotted by Toy News International (which was then picked up by eagle-eyed Redditors; it's a long road). There, in the listings, amid various figures of Batman people, is one curious entry: "Elite Edition 7in—Fallout 3 Remastered—#13 T-45B Nuka-Cola."

In other words, it appears to be a pre-order for a Fallout 3 Remastered-branded toy from McFarlane (which already has a few Fallout toys you can pick up right now). Specifically, the new listing features a 7-inch figure of Nuka-Cola-branded T-45B power armour under a 'Fallout 3 Remastered' label.

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Which could mean anything. Here are the caveats: it's very much worth repeating that this leak did not come from the McFarlane website itself, but rather Bro Depot, a third-party retailer. It could just be that someone got the wrong end of a stick somewhere and input some details incorrectly.

And yet. Bro Depot has a solid reputation among toy nerds, and as Toy News International itself points out, these kinds of listings tend to end up being true. If that's the case, then it's worth noting the dates listed on the pre-order page for this bit of "Fallout 3 Remastered" loot: pre-orders cut off on March 15 and the actual product itself is down for a release date on 31 August.

Could this clue us in as to Fallout 3 Remastered's release date? Ah, well, maybe. Sorry, I know it's an underwhelming answer, but the fact of the matter is some organisations and localities end their fiscal year on August 31. Maybe Bro Depot and McFarlane know something we don't about Fallout 3 Remastered's due date, sure, but maybe they just stuck a placeholder date on there for now.

I've reached out to Bethesda to see if it has any comment on this listing, and I'll update this piece if I hear back. You never know, maybe it's just not told anyone when FO3 Remastered is coming out because no one's thought to ask yet.

Me? I wouldn't read much into the date, but I'd be surprised if the listing itself was pulled out of thin air. We're almost one year on from the release of Oblivion Remastered, Bethesda's Microsoft parent would very much like it to make a lot of easy money, and Todd Howard has already said he really likes doing this whole shadowdrop thing. Where there's smoke, there's nuclear fire, if you ask me.