Bethesda Game Studios’ executive producer and director, Todd Howard, teases potential locations for the upcoming Fallout 5.

Todd Howard, Bethesda Game Studios’ executive producer and director, was in charge of the last two entries of the Fallout franchise. Recently, he spoke about the franchise’s future and the location for the much anticipated fifth game.

During an appearance on the Kinda Funny Gamescast, Howard spoke about Fallout 5 and confirmed that it would be set in the United States, just like previous installments. The long-time Bethesda director’s justification for not exploring what the rest of the world looks like in this post-apocalyptic world is that part of Fallout’s charm is inherently rooted in Americana.

“My view is part of the Fallout schtick is on the Americana naivete and part of that,” Howard said. “And so, for us right now, it’s okay to sort of acknowledge some of those other areas. But our plan is to predominantly keep it in the U.S. I also like in any sort of world, I don’t feel the need to answer; it’s okay to leave mystery or questions. ‘What is happening in Europe? What is happening here?’ I think those are good things. In Elder Scrolls. Everybody wants to go to these other specific lands. The worst thing you could do to a mysterious land is remove the mysteriousness. Keep mysterious lands mysterious.”

Bethesda Game Studios is also responsible for another major video game franchise, The Elder Scrolls. Howard and the team at Bethesda are currently hard at work developing The Elder Scrolls VI, the long-awaited sequel to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Reportedly, only when Bethesda has completed their work on this next big release will they shift their focus to Fallout 5. That means that the fifth Fallout game might be a few years from release.

The first Fallout game, released in 1997, was set in Southern California, and Fallout 2 took place in Northern California. Fallout: New Vegas, as the name may suggest, takes place in the Mojave Desert, rounding out the West Coast representation in the franchise. In more recent entries, the studio has shifted its focus to the East Coast, like in Fallout 3, which is set in Washington D.C., and Fallout 4, which takes place in Boston. The new Prime Video Fallout series stars Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean, a vault dweller who must explore the harsh nuclear wasteland that once was the Greater Los Angeles Area.

One reason why the game has shifted to the East Coast is that Bethesda’s HQ is in Rockville, Maryland. The older games of the franchise were developed by Interplay Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, until 2007 when Bethesda purchased Fallout. Aside from the turf-based development, fans have long called for a Fallout game in other areas. There’s been speculation about Chicago and the Midwest region at large. The location is mentioned in Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, but Bethesda may not want to tread old ground, as the turn-based tactical game Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is set in the Midwest.

There is currently no official release date for Fallout 5.