Marist College

Games Companion Paper

Ethical issue

Bethesdas satire on the US Government

contracts through Fallouts
Vault-tec

Louis Ambrosio
Professor Schrier
Ethics in gaming
November 16, 2016
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Abstract

In order to fully demonstrate the issue presented in my paper and limit any confusion, I have
created an abstract that sets the tone for the proceeding argument. There are a few assumptions to
understand in order to get through the paper and understand the dilemmas, these include:
I. The Fallout series was made with hints of satire regarding historical American events and
ideas.
II. The game developers (Bethesda) intentionally placed the satire as a conscious effort to
communicate with the player.

With these ideas in place, I pose the question Is Bethesdas representation of governmental
wartime contracts ethical or is it detrimental misinformation? Knowing that the game consists of
satire of the American government, their representation could have negative or positive effects
for those who attribute it to its real life counterpart. I argue that although Bethesda used extreme
situations and exaggerations in order to make their warnings clear, they acted ethically because
they did not deviate that far from the truth. Using the in-game agency, Vault-Tec, I note
similarities from the real and game world with the acts of contracting brands to generate
weaponry, the covert testing of human subjects, and the use of misleading propaganda. These
actions have all unfolded as a result of the fear and pressure that a large scale war can garner. If
these in game actions were too far from the truth, the Fallout series would be doing a disservice
to the player, as they associate the games events with those in the realm of real life possibility.
The ethical framework of utilitarianism under consequentialism will also serve as the guiding
principle for reviewing decisions throughout the paper. I also believe that Bethesda properly used
their creative resources as a means to show the dangers of governmental authority abuse from a
worst case scenario. They place the player in a position where they are affected by this problem,
and work to solve it just as one would expect to do so in real life. I will also attempt to shed light
on some of the criticisms that may arise surrounding this topic in order to provide an established
argument and see both perspectives.
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Hypothesis

Out of all of the videogames available on the market, there is no doubt that Bethesda

Softworks Fallout series is one of the most expansive and noteworthy. Bethesda has been

known to take role playing games to the next level by creating such a dynamic world that closely

resembles our world in terms of the decisions, factions, lifestyles, and interactions. The Fallout

series brings to light many ethical issues that we face in our own lives, specifically, the dangers

of government contracts, human research, and federal propaganda as a result of authority abuse.

This will be the focus of the paper for reasons of brevity and a more in depth analysis. A

paramount government agency within the game, Vault-Tec, carried out various acts with the

ethical framework of consequentialism in mind. Vault-Tec had the authority to conduct classified

research and contracts for the goal of preparing for the future, which was unfortunately abused.

This provides an excellent commentary on real life wartime actionsboth current and historic. It

draws the ultimate dilemma that it is not ethical for governmentally funded agencies to use

classified contracts, even if the goal may seem beneficial. This brings up the question Was

Bethesdas satirical representation of real life issues ethically justified? The opposing side

would be that they did not produce an ethical satire, they merely used hyperbole to place a

negative undertone on the real life counterparts that the game represents. I have found that

Bethesda has acted ethically through the implementation of this conflict in their game. This

statement will be analyzed from each side by using the various frameworks of consequentialism,

using real life examples in addition to those experienced through gameplay, and through the

opposing side of the argument.

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Background

Before the satirical connections can be analyzed for ethical review, it is first necessary to

have a background on the subjects. The Fallout series centers around an alternate path of history,

where the tensions after the Cold war became much more than an arms race. The technology

within the Fallout world had a focus on nuclear power and required increasing amounts of fuel to

power and develop. They real split between the Fallout world and ours is that they had chosen

the path of less energy-efficient production while we developed energy advanced tech and

innovated further. The scramble for these depleting fossil fuels and nuclear power created a

challenge for the developed nations, as they all attempted to harness the last of the resources in

2077. Instead of a passing anxiety, all of the nuclear developed countries of the world resorted to

warfare, all firing volleys of nuclear warheads in a short chain reaction that would ultimately put

the world in a post-apocalyptic statethus, we have the setting and dilemma for the Fallout

series (Bethesda Softworks, 2016).

The world of Fallout has many areas to focus on that resemble our current life, but for the

scope of this study, we are going to focus on the idea of government agencies abusing authority

during wartime efforts. This problem can most easily be tied into the Fallout universe by

exposing the fictional Vault-Tec Corporation. The company exceled in producing advanced

technologies as well as generating innovative designs. Their expertise was military technologies,

as they worked in tandem with the national research done at the Pentagon. They were eventually

contracted by the US Government to design a network of vaults that were to shelter and sustain

life in the event of a nuclear war. This would essentially be the most complex system of fallout

shelters ever commissioned, with a budget of 400 billion (Avellone, 2002). Vault-Tec went on to

eventually abuse their power, using their confidential nature to hide most motives from their
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stakeholders. This proved to be one of the largest shocks to the in-game community, as well as

severely stunt the rebuilding of the post-apocalyptic world in which the game functions. The

actions of the Vault-Tec Corporation resembled those of similar government agencies in the real

world. This might not be fully evident to most, and Bethesda effectively exposed some of these

abuses through the power and reach of their game.

Framework

Before the specific statements and connections that Bethesda makes through their game

are reviewed, it is beneficial to look at the ethical principles of consequentialism. This will

provide as a guide for both the real world and in-game companies as well as for the developers

actions in including them in their game. Using the tenets of these principles, it will become clear

that the developers were ethical in both the areas of representing real world interactions through

as well as including them within their game altogether. According to Merriam Webster, ethics in

general are rules of behavior based on the ideas about what is morally good and bad (1828).

Consequentialism concerns itself with the consequences of a particular action in relation to

ethics. The most popular approach within consequentialism is Utilitarianism. This promotes the

idea that a life can be valued by the amount of distress that it avoids. In essence, actions can be

deemed ethical or not by the weighing the net effect of good versus bad that they will produce. It

is assumed that the good would be pleasure and satisfaction, while the bad would be synonymous

with results such as pain and suffering. It is important to make the distinction that happiness and

pleasure are not the materialistic kinds, but the overall concepts of a healthy, rewarding life. This

framework was selected because it tends to apply to large numbers of people, such as a society or

community as a whole, rather than the individual. Governmentally funded agencies and their

satirical counterpart, Vault-Tec, engage in actions that affect large scales of the population for
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a significant amount of time. Utilitarianism is also unique because it is a more realistic

framework, as it acknowledges that every action is likely to produce both good and bad effects.

The choice that produces the greatest amount of good, or similarly the least amount of bad, will

be deemed ethical (Bonde, 2013).

Next, three specific issues involving government contracts agencies abusing their

authority in Fallout will be demonstrated. They will all be connected to real life events of the

same nature, and then proven to be unethical through utilitarianism. By doing so, Bethesda will

be proven to be acting ethically as they decide expose these in their game in a negative light.

Case Study: Industry

Vault-Tec was no stranger to contracting with manufacturing companies in order to make

use of resources and provide necessary equipment in case of a dire situation. To say that this

does not occur in real life would be illogical, as we see government contacts created with service

providers and large hardware companies, especially in times of need. Through the satirical

foundation of Fallout, Bethesda had Vault-Tec partner with robotics manufacturer, RobCo

Industries. Within the lore of Fallout, this partnership became the most successful venture in the

history of the United States as far as profit was concerned. RobCo was originally a household

name, producing products such as Pip-Boys, computer terminals, and Mr. Handys. All of these

products worked to improve the living conditions of daily life through robotics, and upon the

merger with Vault-Tec, the focus seemed to shift. New products were drafted, such as Eyebots

that spewed biased propaganda, Sentry Bots and Assaultrons for lethal defense and surveillance,

and other weapons of destruction. To make matters worse, in the wasteland, there are not many

more humans to oversee and maintain these robots, so they are free to kill as they were
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programed to. This makes matters worse, as it stalls the reparations from the war (Bethesda

Softworks, 2016).

This contractual endeavor is eerily similar to the actions of worldwide companies within

the real world. Companies such as Boeing, and Northrop Grumman could be looked at under the

same scrutiny of Robco. Was this design choice a misrepresentation of the actions starting with

the US government, or was it a realistic commentary on actual events? Data from the Stockholm

International Peace Research Institute shows that these companies and others alike have

benefitted tremendously from United States military expenditures. Specifically, Boeing is the top

producer and manufacturer of commercial airplanes. They have generated 31.8 billion in arms

sales under government contracts for missiles, planes and other electronics. Northrop

Grummans historical wartime sales contributed to over 80% of their 26.4 billion in total sales

(Wiegley, 2013). There is no doubt that the business of war has been a profitable for Robco and

real world companies.

Both of the real world and Fallout world companies breached their morals and principles

in order to ultimately help their country and generate more profit. Through utilitarianism, it is not

ethical to promote such a degree of profit through the idea of war. Although it may seem that

these companies are defending their homeland, many are offshore and working in their own best

interest as their wartime production units were never fully used. The ability of the government to

offer businesses a greater amount of profit than they will ever see in exchange of their services

and technologies does not do more good than bad. Companies can easily be faced with the

choice to promote conflict in order to generate revenue, especially when they are granted the

ability to do so by a governing body. Next, Bethesdas decision to include this satire on modern

issues was in fact ethical. From utilitarian views, they used their game to bring these issues to the
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mind of the engaged player. By connecting the in game companies with those of our history

provide a commentary to those who play the game. Furthermore, the fact that the games story

places these in a negative light and has the player attempt to overthrow them shows that

Bethesda encourages the disbanding of these practices. Those who play the game will see the

negatives in the low-risk game environment. The dissatisfaction that they feel from playing the

game will be counteracted by the greater amount of good that they promote by using it as satire.

It brings the issue under scrutiny and has the players make the conscious connections to their real

worlds.

Case study: Human Research

The next case for discussion is the government funded human research that Vault-Tec is

known for conducting. In short, the vaults that were created for refuge were twisted by Vault-Tec

into research experiments for the benefit of a few selected elites. The company would use the

humans within their shelter vaults as test subjects for the dangers of radiation, social interactions,

and for any other scientific hypothesis. It is one thing to conduct inhumane research on willing

participants, but to mask the vaults as equitable safe shelters for all and then conduct covert

experiments is certainly anti-utilitarianism. At first it may seem that the vault dwellers are being

sacrificed for the greater good, but in the lore, it is essentially only for a small group of elites

who are secretly conducting the experiments and hiding the information. In fact, as a result of the

vaults, society has regressed and created many sheltered, mentally ill, and mutated individuals

(Bethesda Softworks, 2016). See exhibit A for a brief list of the hidden experiments of some of

the vaults.

Identical to the issues within Fallout, the Pentagon in real life has also been known act in

a similar fashion. Harsh studies have been conducted without consent of the test subjects
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throughout history, and to be even more congruent with the thesis, they have been on the effects

of radiation. In 1949, iodine and xenon were released in Washington to contaminate three towns

and report the results. This was known as Operation Green Run. In the 1960s the US

Department of Defense conducted studies where they administered radiation to poor minority

cancer patients without telling them what was being done. Patients were told that they were

receiving a treatment where they were really being tested for the effects of lethal doses of

radiation. In this study, patients names were strategically misrepresented in order to limit any

litigation if the results were published. In 1963, 232 prisoners were unwillingly exposed to

radiation in their reproductive organs, resulting in at least four significant birth defects and

scrutiny of the project. (LeBaron, 1998) Using people for study without their permission

produces more evil than good, as many of the results are not used, resulting in nothing but

negative effects for the unfortunate test subjects involved.

These similarities are exactly what the satire within Fallout hones in on, as Bethesda

shows to an extreme degree how these events have negative repercussions. Once again, they use

their game ethically in the sense that they advocate against this behavior, as it causes many

deaths and mutations that the main character (who is also always a part of one of the

experiments) has to deal with. Using their resources to create a game that warns players of the

potential outcomes of these practices is ethical. They are able to draw out the situation in a

hypothetical environment through their game, providing an excellent warning and utilitarian

sound piece of media for society.

Case Study: Propaganda

The propaganda that Vault-Tec uses in order to trick potential subjects into entering

vaults and following others agendas relates to similar real world uses. Vault-Tec made the
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vaults seem as if they were the only way to survive, and that they were the way of the future. It

used the appeal of pathos to engrain the idea that signing up for the vaults are the best way to

provide for your family and ensure their survival. Vault-Tec also created other propaganda such

as bobble heads, museums, lunchboxes, apparel, and handbooks all with the same goal (Bethesda

Softworks, 2016).

See exhibit B for an example of misleading Vault-Tec propaganda.

This coincides with the real world principles of ethics within social marketing. There is

an inherent responsibility to use marketing tools in order to better promote society as well as the

communicated goals of the company providing them. Alan Andreasen states, there are

consequences, both intended and unintended, that affect audienceskey issues include benefits,

relative benefits, and harm that may result from the act (2001). This basically means that if the

desired consequences of marketing efforts are achieved, and they produce more good than bad,

then there is no reason to discredit their ethical nature. He also illuminates the point that it should

not be ethical even if questionable means generate positive consequences.

At first this seems like the lies involved with the propaganda could be utilitarian if they

promote an overall greater good. In this case, they are not benefiting anyone besides the elite few

that have control over the vaults and their experiments. All that results is a mass misinformation

for all that are involved, as well as using rhetoric and advertising to push unethical tasks. The

company even mislead their own employees with the exception of the executive suite, further

proving that this is not in line with utilitarianism. Again, Bethesda touching on this ongoing issue

and showing the extreme end of the spectrum provides as an example of what can happen when

there is no transparency required in government actions.

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Criticisms

Of course there are some criticisms that come with promoting utilitarianism. One

includes the ideas that most arguments rely on absolutely knowing the results of an action when

you cannot predict them. There is also the chance that a negative action might have an intended

positive results and proved to be ethical under this framework. Since neither of these problems

exist in Bethesdas representation of the US government, they do not discredit any claims

previously mentioned; however, they are still important to note. A more relevant criticism is that

utilitarianism focuses too much on a collective body then needs of an individual. This is

specifically touched upon through the Fallout games, as everyone you encounter has been

negatively affected in some way by one of these plans for a greater society. It seems as if the

hopes and dreams of the individual have all been suppressed in order to make way for a better

future and for the good of society.

There may also be criticisms within the assumptions that this paper was built on. Some

may argue that the Fallout series is not in fact a commentary on todays society. It is easy to

respectfully refute this claim by making connections between the identical systems of

government, settings, and the real life characters and the items within the game. There are

countless in game features that cross paths with real life issues. The largest being the idea that

the games universe is an exact copy of our modern world, only to split paths during the 1950s.

After all, the overarching theme of the universe is that War never changes, which implies that

just because it is in a videogame realm, it does not mean it is any different fundamentally than it

is in the real world (Bethesda Softworks, 2016).

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Final Words

Through the creation of Fallout, Bethesda Softworks has been able to achieve additional

goals than what are first assumed. Not only do they generate revenue for their stakeholders, but

they provide a pleasurable gaming experience for all fans and players. One of the overlooked

goals of Bethesda would be their conscious choices to include social commentary within their

game in order to promote change and increase awareness. The developers use their power and

capabilities to create a game world where the issues in our modern world go awry and are drawn

out to their extremes. Specifically, the endeavors of the Vault-Tec Corporation are satirical

representations of the tendency of government agencies to abuse their power in history. The

game developers make this decision to comment on this parallel, and through the framework of

utilitarianism, they have done so ethically. None of their assumptions are too far off of reality,

and it can be seen how these extremes are predictable in our real life. If Bethesda had done this

distastefully, and created hyperbolic exaggerations, they might have not acted ethically by

distributing these ideas through mass media. Thus, Bethesdas focus on these issues will make

the player more aware of them within their daily lives and decrease the probability of similar

events occurring. Considering they do this with minimal negative effects, through a recreational

device, and by using ideas that exist in real life, they have acted ethically. As a result, more

people are aware of the dangers of government agencies if they are used against utilitarian

principles.
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Exhibits
A.
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Works Cited

Anderson, A. R. (2001). Effects in Social Marketing. Retrieved from Google Scholar:
https://books.google.com/books?id=WeFKuorUjx4C&dq=government+agencies+ethics
&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Avellone, C. (2002, March 8). Fallout Bible 0. Retrieved from Fallut Wiki:
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Bible_0

Bonde, S. (2013, May). A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions. Retrieved from Brown
University Science and Technology Studies: https://www.brown.edu/academics/science-
and-technology-studies/framework-making-ethical-decisions

LeBaron, W. (1998). America's Nuclear Legacy.

Merriam-Webster. (1928). Ethic. Retrieved from Merriam Webster: http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/ethic

Softworks, Bethesda. (2016, November 12). Fallout 4. Rockville, Maryland, United States.

Wiegley, S. (2013, March 10). Companies Profiting the Most from War. Retrieved from USA
Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/10/10-companies-
profiting-most-from-war/1970997/

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