Evan Zasasz says it all started with a post on r/falloutnewvegas.
“One user posted a meme of Mr House on a sphere – originally created by @tunnelsnakesfool on Instagram – and the next picture showed the price of advertising on a sphere,” he told me, “with the caption ‘Hey guys, did you know that if all members of this subreddit donated $5 we could put Mr House on a sphere in Las Vegas’.
“A few users suggested that someone start a fundraiser and I thought to myself, why shouldn’t I do that?”
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Zarsaz said he probably wouldn’t have actually put the idea into action if the situation was different. “To be honest, if my work schedule wasn’t so slow and I had to leave later, I would have probably [have made] Mental preparation for starting fundraising [forgotten] “I rarely think about it,” he admits, “and it only comes back to me at inconvenient times when I can’t write it down, like in the shower, or while driving.”
When he didn’t, a GoFundMe campaign was created to put a computerized image of Fallout: New Vegas’ iconic character and RobCo CEO Robert Edwin House on display for a day in the Las Vegas Sphere. “Mr. House has always fascinated me,” Zsaz said. “Maybe it’s his voice and the way he speaks, his long-term goals, the powers he possesses, or the mystique he holds around players and the general public of New Vegas. Whatever the case, Obsidian did an amazing job writing and casting the character. Not that they didn’t do a good job with other characters, but Mr. House happens to be one of my favorites.”
As of this writing, the campaign to put the funny man on a giant glowing ball has raised $4,113 worth of donations in just two weeks, with a goal of $487,710. It’s fair to say that while it still has a long way to go to reach that goal, it’s attracted far more interest than its founders could have foreseen.
“I thought people would take screenshots of the page and see it circulating on meme pages. But I didn’t expect to receive thousands of dollars in donations or see a lot of media coverage of it,” he said. “When I started seeing a lot of articles popping up, I realized I had momentum and I needed to ride it before it lost relevance, hence the social media pages.
“Besides joking with friends and family about how famous I am and asking them if they want autographs, the publicity hasn’t changed my daily life. I’m not a celebrity (thank goodness) nor do I want to be one. The only major change is that since starting the social activism, all of my free time has been spent creating content to spread awareness.”
While Zarsaz quickly embraced the fact that he was the driving force behind the event, he told me that if enough people donated to the fundraiser, the Vegas Sphere House would actually become a reality, and if not, the donations would have to be repaid, which was definitely daunting at first. “I remember seeing the first $5 donation and thinking, ‘Oh my god, if this thing works, it would be great! I have so much work to do, and I have to get started!’”
“Due to the fact [the campaign] I said it as a joke during lunch break. I didn’t watch it. [the practicalities of] fundamental [beforehand]”He told me, ‘I just saw ‘$450,000 a day for a spherical ad space’, plus taxes and surcharges, I don’t think I’ll worry about it yet. Of course, I need to contact [the company behind the sphere] At some point, but I know their time is valuable and I don’t see any point in contacting them at this moment. Heck, we haven’t even raised 1% of our goal yet.”
In a recently updated FAQ section of the fundraising page, Zassaz outlined how he plans to handle various scenarios that might arise when putting House on the sphere. For example, if the goal is reached and less money is raised than needed to build the sphere, he wrote that he would refund any excess donations. “Some people have suggested that any excess donations be donated to charity,” he added, “but since I updated this a week later, that’s not fair because that wasn’t included in the description of the fundraiser.”
Likewise, if it turns out that more money is needed than the goal, Zarsaz wrote: “If it’s just a small amount more, I will update the goal. However, if I believe the amount is too high and unrealistic, I may refund all donors or perhaps hold a poll and let donors vote on the next steps.” He even considered what to do if the in-game image of House’s face couldn’t be used, outlining a few possible alternatives and promising that if none of these failed to “meet donor expectations,” he would refund all donations.
“After careful consideration, I am very confident that if the goal is met, I will be able to persevere and live up to the expectations of the donors,” the organizer told me. “I consider myself a go-getter and quitting is not an option. My day job constantly challenges me to find solutions to problems, so I don’t think this will not happen because of something I have no control over. The only thing that would prevent me from doing this, other than lack of funding, is MSG Sphere not allowing me to show anything at all.”
To that end, he also specifies in the FAQ that if the fundraiser hasn’t “reached any significant milestones” by May 2025 — by which Zalsaz ideally hopes to have raised about half of its goal — he will “refund all donors and close the fundraiser.”
For now, it seems that Zassaz and his donors will just have to wait and see. In the meantime, though, the organizer tells me that the meme-based campaign has already had a positive impact on him. His Fallout journey began at Christmas, when he was attracted by the advertisement for Fallout 3 and got the game.
“One of the great things that has come out of this is that I’ve found it really enjoyable to interact with the Fallout community,” he said. “To be honest, I just don’t have time to play video games anymore. Whenever I get home from work or the weekend comes and I want to start playing Fallout, I think about how long I have to endure the entire ‘tutorial’ phase before I can really have fun – you know, getting out of the shelters/Goodsprings, farming, collecting junk to sell, etc.”
“This fun little project has reignited my love for the series and I couldn’t be happier!”
