“War never changes.” This treatise is the consistent throughline of the “Fallout” video game series, a nifty tagline to establish the dire post-apocalyptic nature of the long-running Bethesda Game Studios title. It also doubles as a fitting axiom for a different kind of battle: the IP wars. It’s easy to compare countries competing in a nuclear arms race to various studios looking to stockpile their arsenals with exclusive content.
Prime Video’s “Fallout” adaptation arrives as a new IP battle begins to take shape. As the power and viability of the old resource — comic book adaptations — start to wane, Hollywood is mining the rich vein of video game lore for the future of franchises.