Bethesda is trying something a little different for the Fallout franchise with the spin-off Fallout 76 coming soon. Though not a full-scale PvP game, the toe dipping into online play for this particular series is one that has intrigued many. With a map four times the size of Fallout 4 and such a small server size, the team over at Bethesda are working hard to ensure that this gamble years in the making will pay off for their fans.

In an effort for longevity and for player interest, Bethesda's Todd Howard recently spoke at GameLab about their post-launch plans for Fallout 76. Good news for those excited about this new venture, Bethesda is dedicated to tons of content dedicated to this game long after the title goes live. But just because they have post-content drops planned, don't just assume they abandoning the base game.

“If everything works out perfectly with launch, which won’t be the case, we’ll be able to make a lot of content, but we know our priorities. It’s a big new thing for us,” reassured Howard over initial concerns that it will be a shallow event-based grab.

It's definitely a gamble, more so when so many have a knee-jerk reaction to the word "online" and Howard was not ashamed to admit that this project is scary for him and the team. “We’re scared,” he admitted. “How well can we make this work? We look at some other big online games, and even the people who’ve done it a lot, there’s always problems. We’re not naïve enough to think it’s going to be perfect.”

In the same vein, Howard recently addressed concerns that this online move marks "the end" of Bethesda's commitment to single player, which couldn't be further from the truth.

"It doesn't mark the future," Howard told gi.biz in a recent interview. "Corporately we've done a mix—people forget sometimes. Elder Scrolls Online is one of the biggest online games in the world, we have Fallout Shelter which we keep updating, and Elder Scrolls: Legends."

"Anyone who has ever said 'this is the future and this part of gaming is dead' has been proven wrong every single time. We like to try it all. For a long time we wanted to try a multiplayer game and we had this idea. We shouldn't be afraid. We should try it."

This isn't The Elder Scrolls Online, and it certainly isn't World of Warcraft - which is made by Blizzard - it's small scale, a spin-off - which is why it isn't titled Fallout 5, and a way for the developers to air out the ideas they've reportedly had since before even Fallout 4.

There's nothing wrong with a little boundary pushing, and Bethesda has more than proven that they known how to weave a good tale. We'll see firsthand soon enough when Fallout 76 drops on November 14th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Posted: Jul 08, 2018 8:46 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/07/06/fallout-76-post-launch-content/