Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard has acknowledged that the developer let a lot of its fans down with Fallout 76.
In an interview with Games Industry, Howard said that Bethesda wanted to do something different with the Fallout series but “quickly realized” that the change in direction didn’t quite work out. However, despite “well-deserved” criticism, millions of people played Fallout 76, encouraging the studio to keep going.
The story stuff and the quests didn’t go in until late in the project, and I think our designers did a great job with one arm tied behind their backs, trying to tell stories through holotapes, terminals, and things like that. Whereas the survival aspects work for a lot of people, we quickly recognised that the game wasn’t really giving our audience what they wanted and they were really let down by what we delivered on day one. Without a doubt, we let a lot of people down.
We wanted to make something different, but the audience doesn’t always want something different. And that’s no fault of theirs, it’s totally understandable. I think maybe we did a bad job of saying how different it was going to be.
Despite Fallout 76‘s shortcomings, Howard is proud of its developers for improving the game and the community that believed in its potential.
“Overall, it’s been a really positive experience for us,” Howard concluded. “It’s made us much better developers, much more connected with our community. So I can’t say it’s going to be a one-off.”
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[Source: Games Industry]
