Bethesda revealed more details about its upcoming Fallout game, Fallout 76, confirming this evening at its E3 press conference that the title is an online-only multiplayer experience arriving on November 14th, 2018. The developer stressed that the game can be played on your own, but that a core component of the experience will involve building a base with friends, cooperating to take down large monsters, and working together to fend off hostile enemy players. Pre-ordering the game now will grant you access to an open beta later this year.
In a new gameplay trailer, you can see the interior of an abandoned Vault 76 and the remnants of what look like some type of celebration, prior to the vault opening ahead of the original Fallout’s timeline. Bethesda says it’s using new rendering and lighting technology that help make the world bigger and more detailed; earlier today, the developer confirmed Fallout 76 will have a map four times larger than the one in Fallout 4.
The developer also made a series of faux-instructional videos in its fictional Vault-Tec series that showed off some actual multiplayer combat and exploration. The game looks to be full of a number of horrifying-looking monsters to slay cooperatively, and the competitive multiplayer combat looks more like a traditional first-person shooter. We don’t yet know if the turn-based V.A.T.S. mechanic will be present in Fallout 76. Bethesda confirmed that dying does not rob you of all your gear, and it looks like being aggressive against other human players might result in a bounty placed on your head. The developer also teased a very interesting feature in which nuclear missile sites around the map can be raided by you and friends and used to arm your base and wipe out other human players.
We've been wanting to bring multiplayer to our worlds for a long time and we're excited to share that experience with you in #Fallout76.
See you there. #BE3 pic.twitter.com/fsufZYdcmG — Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 11, 2018
Introducing the Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform - or C.A.M.P.
Build where you want and move it where you want. It's the perfect way to make an impromptu home for you and your friends. #Fallout76 #BE3 pic.twitter.com/6P1j50A1FP — Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 11, 2018
Bethesda showed around two minutes of Fallout 76 gameplay earlier today during Microsoft’s Xbox press conference. But beyond that short snippet of largely environment stills, the developer had revealed pretty much nothing else about the structure of the game until tonight. After Bethesda first announced the game late last month, Kotaku reported that the game would likely be an online multiplayer survival game in the spirit of DayZ and Rust.
That makes sense, given Fallout 4 has only been out for around two and half years now and Bethesda open-world games typically have longer development cycles. And now, Bethesda has confirmed these reports, with the developer saying it has wanted “to bring multiplayer to our worlds for a long time.”
Share. Four times the size of Fallout 4. Four times the size of Fallout 4.
The first details about Fallout 76 were revealed during Microsoft's Xbox E3 2018 showcase.
During the conference, Bethesda's Todd Howard revealed Fallout 76 is a prequel to all of the prior Fallout games and the studio's "biggest one yet." According to Howard, the game will be "four times the size of Fallout 4."
Exit Theatre Mode
Howard also confirmed the game will take place in "the hills of West Virginia," where the player is "one of the first to emerge in an untamed and very different wasteland."
As narrated by the reveal trailer: "When the fighting has stopped and the fallout has settled, you must rebuild. Not just walls not just buildings, but hearts and minds, and ultimately, America itself. In Vault 76, our future begins."
Fallout 76 was revealed on Wednesday, May 30 with a teaser trailer. The trailer dropped following a mysterious live stream that began early the day prior to Fallout 76’s reveal and lasted for several hours, with only occasional activity.
Fallout 76 is available for preorder on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
For more, check out our primer for a full history of Vault 76 in the Fallout universe.
