Fallout 76 marks a new step for the series, forgoing core tenets such as NPCs and a traditional narrative in favor of a shared open-world. What happens, then, if the servers keeping said open-world functioning are shut down? Hopefully, it’s not something fans will need to worry about. Similar to Blizzard’s continued work with World of Warcraft, Bethesda aims to keep Fallout 76 fully operational for years to come.
Bethesda Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Communications Pete Hines explained that neither the publisher nor the developer are thinking of how long the game will last. However, the intention is to maintain support for Fallout 76 as long as players actively play. Hines told GameSpot in an interview,
How long is Fallout 76 going to be up? Forever. I don’t know how to give an answer other than that. It’s not like anybody makes a game and goes, ‘Well this is going to make it for 10 years if we’re lucky.’ Nobody thinks that way. How long has WoW been up now? Is that game planning to sunset in a year? I seriously doubt it.
We’re going to keep going as long as people keep playing it and it shows no sign of slowing down. Once we get to private servers or whatever happens in the years following; I don’t know. Maybe there’s a point where it doesn’t matter. But… this is a massive franchise and a massive undertaking, and our commitment to it is it is never-ending, and that it continues on an ongoing basis
While we know about the content available at launch, Bethesda has yet to detail its “aggressive” post-launch plans. It’ll be intriguing to see how a title like this maintains player interest for an indefinite period of time.
Fallout 76 will arrive on the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One on November 14, 2018.
[Source: GameSpot]
Fallout 76 Preview
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
A large part of Fallout 76's story involves figuring out the nature of Scorchers, these shambling enemies.
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system has been adjusted, and as you can see, it's now card-based!
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
The juxtaposition of beautiful, rustic villages and decaying monsters is as thrilling as ever.
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
I can fully attest that the Greenbrier's virtual counterpart feels much the same as its real one.
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
We ran into a few tough spots in our demo (both solo and as a team) but we persevered! The game has a way of putting you on edge but letting you pull through.
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
The Pip-Boy works about the same as it did in Fallout 4.
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
Robots aren't always friendly NPCs! Sometimes they end up as enemies, too.
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
Instead of getting a "Well Rested" buff, you and your team can play instruments for a minute or two to feel "Well Tuned."
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We've Played the Fallout 76 Preview
Did we mention that our demo ended with a nuke hitting down near Vault 76?