The Story of Fallout 76, Part 1: The Beginning

Away from videogames, Bethesda’s greatest ability will always be its marketing campaign. Whether it be a well-crafted trailer or the enigmatic Todd Howard bombarding you with buzzwords, Bethesda’s advertising made you want to look at what it was they were doing. Even after the underwhelming response to Fallout 4, the moment Bethesda went live on Twitch asking people to “please stand by” with a clock ticking down, the gaming world was hooked in again.

There was an intense hype surrounding this new Fallout. There hadn’t been any rumours leading up to this moment, no one seemed to know anything. It was so out of left field that it simply swept everyone up into the excitement of being Fallout. There were a lot of predictions in the early hours of the stream. Fallout 5, a remake of the original or Fallout 3. Everyone was just flinging out ideas. Nonsensical or believable, it was just a great moment watching a fandom come together over a static video. Of course, the occasional tidbit would happen, but the majority of those 24 hours was simply a message, politely asking people to stand by. Yet, the hype behind this new Fallout would begin to unravel before the countdown even struck zero.

There were early rumblings that this new Fallout may not be the experience that we would normally expect. There was nothing concrete to these rumblings, no major source was willing to attach their name to anything just yet, but the doubt was there. As the timer struck zero, Todd Howard appeared to announce Fallout 76 and a teaser was played. It didn’t show much outside of a usual opening Fallout cinematic and a fantastic Country Roads cover. People were elated, assuming this would be a Fallout: New Vegas style spin off, but that multiplayer doubt still lingered - and was about to bring an almighty downer to the reclamation day party.

Jason Schreier, writing for Kotaku at the time, was the unfortunate soul who decided to attach their name to the multiplayer bombshell. Initially stating the game was not ‘strictly single-player’, before doubling down and confirming Fallout 76 would be a multiplayer-RPG in a Reddit post. Schreier received a lot of abuse for his initial claims about the game. Partly from Fallout fans in denial about the direction of the franchise and partly because the gaming community thrives on toxicity. There was a lot of conflicting and sometimes nonsensical information when it came to Fallout 76, something that would cause more frustration amongst fans who just wanted to know what it was. The build up to E3 became a chaotic merry go round of half truths and back pedalling on the small details that had been released. No one seemed to know what Fallout 76 was trying to do and worryingly, that no one seemed to include Bethesda as well.

Interviews with Pete Hines and Todd Howard left players scratching their heads. Although not outright confirming the multiplayer aspect of Fallout 76, Pete Hines infamously liked a Tweet that suggested gamers critique companies who never change whilst complaining about companies when they do try something new. At a time where the fans wanted the truth, Bethesda weren’t willing to answer. When the company isn't showing their own faith in an idea, how could the fans get behind it to? Then came strange comments about NPCs - or a lack thereof, in Fallout 76’s case. At first Bethesda claimed there was a traditional Fallout story, but no NPCs, before retconning that statement and confirming there would be non-human NPCs.

The initial reveal of Fallout 76 was one of Bethesda’s greatest plays, but continued misinformation and an inability to tackle questions about the game left players increasingly concerned. They wanted to lose themselves in excitement, but Bethesda was purposefully coy on the road to E3 2018. A tactic that was surprisingly damaging. Leaks are always certain to make their way into any gaming circle. The shocking thing about Fallout 76’s initial leaks was how far reaching it had become. Within my friend group at university, people were discussing their dismay about Fallout 76 and its leaks. Even my own sister, who is not an eager follower of gaming news, was messaging about the ‘mess’ that was the new Fallout game. The damage to Fallout 76 was starting to set into place and Bethesda seemed willing to weather the storm until E3 arrived.

In part two, we will look at Todd Howard’s E3 address, the Fallout community's response and the scepticism towards Bethesda after Fallout 4 had failed to meet some people’s expectations.