It has been years since the last installment of the "Fallout" franchise was released, yet fans are still clamoring for a fourth "Fallout" game. 

Even news and information about "Fallout 4" have been scarce. Aside from several rumors and hoaxes about the game, nothing had been heard from the game developers of the popular post-apocalyptic role-playing series. 

Yet recently, hopes about the impending release of "Fallout 4" went up again after Bethesda finally made a move when they filed for the trademark of the Pip Boy device from the Fallout Universe at the United States Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month. 

Some players were a bit wary about the news, since there have been a lot of fake information about "Fallout 4" that circulated online.But this time, Bethesda actually confirmed the news through a tweet. 

The company posted, "Not a hoax. our filing. just protecting our trademark. also helps in dealing with infringement stuff." 

Bethesda also explained the reason why they purchased the series from Black Isle Studios. 

Company representative Pete Hines said, "The whole reason we went out and acquired the license and that we now own Fallout is that we clearly intended to make more than one. This is not something we're going to do once and then go away and never do it again. When that will be or how long that will be God only knows, but we acquired it specifically because we wanted to own it and develop it and work on it like we do with The Elder Scrolls." 

But aside from that, only a few hints have been given about the release of "Fallout 4." Earlier this year, Bethesda game director Todd Howard mentioned during an interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun that the company has no timeframe for any game announcements, but he believes that it may take some time before they actually make one. 

Still, fans of the series are hoping that a "Fallout 4" announcement will happen sometime in 2015.