Developer Bethesda Softworks surprised everyone last week by revealing a brand new Fallout game. Titled Fallout Vault 76, the first hints of this title appeared on May 28 when Bethesda tweeted out a gif of the “Please Stand By” screen. Many suspected this teasing a remastering of Fallout 3, which had been rumored before the tweet was sent out. After this message, a 24-hour live stream began that showcased a Vault Boy figure standing in front of a television screen.
Tens of thousands watched this bobblehead stand around until the next day when a teaser trailer was unveiled for Fallout Vault 76. No details were shared on what this game might offer, but we do know this game is confirmed to make an appearance at E3. With tons of rumors circling this title, it’s time to sift through all the information and look at what we know about Bethesda’s newest Fallout game.
Fallout 76 Release Date
Fallout 76 is set to release on November 14, 2018, for Xbox One, PS4, and PC
What to Expect
Update 6/10/2018 – Microsoft E3 Press Conference
During Microsoft’s conference, Bethesda decided to share more details about Vault 76 and what players can expect. Acting as a prequel to the other games, 76 will be 4 times larger than Fallout 4. Set in West Virginia, we got a look at a variety of different locations such as a university, gorgeous forests, and a government building. There we also glimpses of multiple Vault dwellers suggesting the rumors of online co-op are true. While we still don’t have the full picture, we can expect more details tonight during Microsoft’s conference.
Bethesda E3 Press Conference
Bethesda decided to end their conference with a detailed look at Fallout 76. The video opens with the player leaving their vault and heading out into the world. The quest that the player is sent on have them venture through 6 different regions. We got a glimpse at a ton of new monsters including a mutated bee with the hive literally embedded in its body and a large monstrous being with a giant arm.
It was also confirmed that Fallout 76 will always be online, which is a first for the franchise. However, you can play this game solo if you want to, so users aren’t tied to the co-op aspect. The gameplay is described as “softcore survival” and dying doesn’t mean you lose your character. There will be no servers and this world will only have a few dozen or so players in it at any time.
The game will feature a PvP aspect that lets players either join up or fight other monsters together. You will earn caps for killing players and there is a leveling up system. Building returns, however, now users can construct whatever they want anywhere in the world. There are also multiple nuclear missile locations around the map and players can interact with them if they choose.
Players will have to kill the enemies guarding these missiles in order to obtain a special code. However, the code might not always be finished so you’ll have to find others to get it. Once you have the code players can drop a literal nuke somewhere on the map.
Original Story
Currently, we know that this title will feature Vault 76 in some capacity which is one of the most important vaults in the Fallout lore. This vault is referenced in different pieces of lore throughout Fallout 3, the Mothership Zeta expansion, and Fallout 4. Unlike the other underground shelters, Vault 76 was constructed as a control vault and set to unlock 20 years after the bombs dropped.
For the unfamiliar, Vault-Tec designed every vault to act as enclosed social experiments to see how people would react under specific – often fatal – circumstances. 76 is designed to compare the results of a normal bunker against those with more extreme alterations. During the trailer, we get a brief glimpse of the clock on the Pip-Boy which is dated October 21, 2102. This places it before the events of the previous Fallout games if the year shown reflects when the title takes place.
When it comes to gameplay so far all we have are rumors outside of a report from Kotaku alledging that Fallout Vault 76 will be an “online game of some sort.” If this is true, it will be the first title in the series to have multiplayer. Kotaku is also reporting that the game will be online focused and will have quests for players to complete. Base-building also makes a return along with other survival mechanics. This information comes from unnamed sources within Bethesda, but we personally cannot verify if the above info is true.
If this is the direction that Bethesda is taking Fallout 4, it will be intriguing to see if they add PvP to the game. Given a lot of the gunplay in the franchise has been lackluster, it’d be a surprise to have any competitive mechanics. It’s possible that this game focuses more on building a community after the vault opens via gathering resources, constructing bases, and slaying radioactive monsters.
When to Expect It
At the time of writing this, Fallout Vault 76 does not have an official release date. We do know that the game will make an appearance during Bethesda’s press conference during this year’s E3. If we had to guess, we suspect that Fallout Vault 76’s release date will be sometime in November. Since October already has some large titles releasing, there’s a better chance that Vault 76 drops near the end of the year.
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One big hint that Vault 76 will be dropping this year comes in the form of a documentary set to release on June 12. Created by the video game documentary channel Noclip, this film will focus on both Bethesda’s history and the development of the new Fallout game. This suggests that the game has been in development and could very well be releasing in a few months. We expect the release date to be revealed during the Bethesda press conference at E3.
However, there was a possible leak that suggested Fallout Vault 76 will release far sooner. According to MassivelyOP, on the Amazon page to pre-order this title showed a release date of Tuesday, July 31. It has since been changed to December 31, which is the typical placeholder when companies don’t want users to know when the game is coming out. It’s possible this was simply a mistake and the date was supposed to be December. This lends more credibility that Fallout Vault 76 is either finished or almost done on the development side.