ALL THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF PC GAMES

News

Bethesda announces Fallout 76, reports point to game being online survival RPG

Bethesda announces Fallout 76, reports point to game being online survival RPG

After teasing a brand new entry in its flagship post-apocalyptic RPG franchise, Bethesda has officially revealed Fallout 76.

Little is officially known about the game thus far, save the fact that Bethesda itself is handling development duties some speculation about the lore surrounding Vault 76. But Kotaku claims that this entry in the series will be an online survival RPG in the vein of Rust and DayZ.

This is a change of pace for Fallout, typically a single-player game, but it would seem that this new style of gameplay is the result of Bethesda's prototypes for a multiplayer mode in 2015's Fallout 4.

Much has changed about the game since these origins, but the project will feature Fallout-style traditional missions and side quests. Furthermore, this will be run as a service. This is a style of video game that Bethesda hasn't experimented a great deal with; the closest it has come is its MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online.

The game is in development at Bethesda's Maryland studios, as well as its newly-branded Bethesda Austin - formerly BattleCry Studios. While the core of the game was likely developed at the Maryland outfit, the Austin outpost's experience developing online hero shooter BattleCry will likely be informing some of the more service-based aspects of the game.

We'll no doubt be seeing more of Fallout 76 at Bethesda's E3 press event on June 10th PT/June 11th BST.

You can check out the teaser trailer below:


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.