Fallout 76

Fallout 76 is a 2018 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the Fallout series and a prequel to previous entries. Initially set in the year 2102, players control a resident of Vault 76 who must venture out into the dilapidated open world set in Appalachia in order to re-colonize the region and uncover a mysterious plague that has killed off its inhabitants. Fallout 76 is Bethesda Game Studios' first multiplayer game. Development began in 2013, and involved a collaboration with developer BattleCry Studios. The game uses a modified version of Bethesda's Creation Engine, which allowed the accommodation of multiplayer gameplay and a more detailed game world than in previous games. Fallout 76 was reportedly subject to a troubled development, which included a restrictive crunch schedule. It saw a high turnover of staff, attributed to both a lack of leadership and clarity about the game's design, while numerous glitches were ignored by quality assurance. Fallout 76 was initially released to generally mixed reviews, with criticism for the game's technical issues, overall design, lack of gameplay purpose, and initial absence of human non-playable characters. A number of Bethesda's responses and attempts to provide ongoing support for Fallout 76 in the months following its launch were met with criticism. In October 2019, a premium subscription service called Fallout 1st was added to the game. The first major update, Wastelanders, which introduced human non-playable characters, was released in April 2020, to more favorable reception. The game was the subject of several controversies, chiefly with regard to the quality of physical content, and is notable for its negative reception. The game sold 1.4 million copies by the end of 2018. Fallout 76 saw an increase in player count over time, peaking in 2024 with the release of Amazon Prime's television series Fallout.

Source: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 — Fallout 76 · retrieved October 19, 2026

Developer

Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher

Bethesda Softworks

First release

November 14, 2018

Series

Fallout

Cover

Official thumbnail

Record ID

Q54497595