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E3 2018: Bethesda Confirms Fallout 76 Is An Always-Online, Multiplayer-Focused Game

But you can also play solo.

168 Comments

We have finally learned exactly what Fallout 76 is. At the Bethesda E3 2018 briefing, director Todd Howard confirmed that Fallout 76 is a multiplayer-focused, always-online game. The characters you come across in Fallout 76 are real people. The game is entirely online, marking a dramatic shift away from the single-player-only nature of earlier games in the series.

However, you can also play by yourself, Howard confirmed. "Of course you can play this solo," he said. Regarding why Bethesda is taking Fallout in such a new and different direction, Howard said, "We've always wanted to see what our style of game could be with multiplayer."

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Now Playing: Todd Howard Shows Off Fallout 76 At Xbox E3 2018

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Bethesda came up with the idea for Fallout 76 four years ago, Howard said. That would mean Bethesda started working on the game before Fallout 4 came out in 2015. And overall, he describes it as a "softcore survival" game.

Howard also clarified that after you die, you'll keep your character progression, which is good to hear. "Death never means the loss of progression or your character," he said. It had been believed prior to the full reveal that Fallout 76 would resemble Rust, a game where progression can be lost.

Along with a variety of details and trailers, we also learned Fallout 76's release date is set for November 14. It's also getting two different special editions, one of which--the Power Armor edition--comes with a wearable helmet that is equipped with a working voice modulator and headlamp.

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alaannn

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why do they want every game to be multiplayer,there arent any good devs since this gen of consoles launched

6 • 
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gunnyninja

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@alaannn: Console games cost money to play online. Built in revenue.

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mboettcher

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@alaannn: Sure, except for all the amazing single-player focused experiences of this generation like God of War, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted 4, Zelda: BOTW, Super Mario Odyssey, Witcher 3, Persona 5, Cuphead, and that's just off the top of my head.

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alaannn

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@mboettcher: that isnt a great list compared to the 360/ps3 gen

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mboettcher

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@alaannn: Again, that's off the top of my head. I have clearly shown that there are, in fact, good devs this generation. At least two of the game on my list are possible contenders for top ten games of all time. That having been said, I am incredibly skeptical about Fallout 76 and I also prefer my games to be single player focused. We likely feel the same way about this particular game, I am just not prepared to echo your statement, which I find hyperbolic.

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Redsyrup

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@mboettcher: Zelda: BOTW is highly debatable. As many people liked that game as disliked it and the ones who liked it could have been bot accounts. I won't be buying the next Zelda game based on reviews alone. I'll have to go old school and rent it first.

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mboettcher

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@Redsyrup: If you say so. I personally have friends who say it is one of the best games they've ever played.

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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@mboettcher: That's what he said...

2 • 
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mboettcher

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@Barighm: I don't follow. If I'm reading his comment correctly he is suggesting that all multiplayer is being shoehorned into all games and that there are no good developers this generation. I suggested that there are, in fact, many excellent games (and devs) that have not relied on multiplayer. What am I missing?

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masscrack

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@mboettcher: I dont know why barighm said that :\?

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GleenCross

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For me, the real question is not about how this game will look like... it's more about the hype and the level of interest. I know fallout has a cool world, one of the best entertainment products out there considering the "apocalypse" genre. Still, we're talking about a game made by the same people who developed Fallout 4 man... That game was so mediocre, why people has any excitement at all to play this? An honest question. Witcher 3 and Divinity 2 are the western rpg standards nowadays, how can someone be tempted or satisfied with anything less?

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Jako998

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I dont understamd why people are mad about this. You can still play solo if you want but also have the choice to play eith friends(Which i think wpuld be cool to do) why hate?

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ghost140

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@jako998: Because while it can be played solo it may not be optimized to do so. Can EVERYTHING be accomplished solo? What about other players or grifers? Will the solo guy have to be constantly be worried that he will be jumped or nuked at anytime? Now there still alot of info we are missing such as is there PVE/PVP servers? Can a private server be hosted? Im not particularly interested in whats been shown but at the very least it looks like we have a new engine and Gamebyro can now rest in peace.

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mboettcher

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@ghost140: Agreed. Multiplayer is ruined by other people.

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georgekaplin197

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@jako998: Does Solo mean just you and no friends? Or does Solo mean you can block out all the other online players? I'm hoping you have the option for both. Then removing the online component will mean you can keep VATS.

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Jako998

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@georgekaplin197: I'm assuming just you and no friends but with the option to play with people

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3partan341

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Always online? ( ̄▽ ̄)ノPASS

13 • 
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koolyoe

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Edited By koolyoe

I'm excited. Looks like it should be good. I wish there were more games that were multiplayer with big open worlds. Playing alone is so boring.

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georgekaplin197

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Edited By georgekaplin197

Now Fallout is exactly like all the other multiplayer games out there. Joy.

Looks like no VATS too.

So I get to spend weeks building a little house only to have random idiot nuke it???

This sound awful.

18 • 
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GooberMcDermit

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Looks like another announcement from E3 that is going to disappoint many people. At least knowing I do not have to buy it which will leave room for other games.

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Good_Coop89

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Edited By Good_Coop89

Should have called it Fallout Online and let it stand as it's own thing, same as Elder Scrolls Online, with "mainline" installments being single player, then everybody's happy.

Otherwise it gives the impression that all future Fallout games will be disposable always-online multiplayer nightmares, which I would hate, because I actually prefer Fallout to Elder Scrolls...

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deactivated-5ed3275ccace5

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M happy that it’s multiplayer integrated n always online. Looking forward to this.

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sladakrobot

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Oh yeah? No thanks

12 • 
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itchyflop

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Always online = renting the game always.

Shame its an epic series

13 • 
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koolyoe

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@itchyflop: Arent all games rented? You don't own the game no matter if it is on a Disk or on your hard drive? It's not like if you break it you get another one free?

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dont_redirectme

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@koolyoe: Nope. I presume you're referring to the fact that we're purchasing a license to play the game and are therefore renting the game.

You must realize that when the game isn't tied to some external developer-controlled server (which can/will eventually be taken down) the license implies a practically perpetual rental that's always going to be accessible/playable.

That is an arrangement we're okay with. But now it's about "renting" a game whose future is uncertain -- we lose access to the game when they pull the plug on their servers. That is unacceptable.

3 • 
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alaannn

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@koolyoe: you own the game you dont own the series

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itchyflop

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Edited By itchyflop

@koolyoe: I dont follow? If you break anything you've purchased without warranty you dont get another free? You still own it.

I own say eswat on the Sega mega drive, it has no online capability because there wasn't such a thing then (commercially), there is no way it will be shut down because its a physical copy cartridge and no online service i need to play it. It can break for sure or the Sega hardware will fail (iv had it since release over 30 years) so that way i cant play it but i still own it and can still play it as long as the hardware runs ok.

My point is like the crew is online and needs to be to play it, for example the servers can be shut down and will in time so you cannot play the game after that you "rent" the software until the dev's decide to close it, mercenaries 2 on ps3 is similar, fortunately i have an old EA pass iv found so i can play it, but im sure eventually that will cease.

Some games you can play offline and on without subscription or any need to, so essentially the ones like this are not "rented" Warcraft to use another example is another "rented" game imo

Im not saying youll need a subscription to play fallout 76, once the servers cease to run you MAY not be able to access the game physical copy or downloaded, you never really own the game, you r buying a means to use the server an access code if you like, where as say i can play mario kart on switch offline without any need to be constantly connected to an online service.

I can and do still play fallout/vegas on ps3, there is no online service there meaning i can still however many years i want to later on, i OWN the game in its entirety.

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cboye18

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Edited By cboye18

The single-player experience will suffer for it being a mp-focused game, so it's not worth it if you're looking for that. Always-online is a no-go for me as well.

This is not the New Vegas for Fallout 4 I was hoping to get. I'll have to pass.

21 • 
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depman1972

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I really hope its playable like fallout 4 as I have no interest in MP, I just want to play alone, it better be good.

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dont_redirectme

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Edited By dont_redirectme

@depman1972: I was originally hoping for that too until I read that it's always-online. So playing on your own or not, the game's lifespan is tied to how long Bethesda decides to keep their servers up for. Plus, no more modding since AO games never allow modding.

Bethesda/FO76 can eat s***.

2 • 
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SwooshDutch

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I bet you 90% of these salty fanboys will end up playing it anyway lol, either way im very exited for this!

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deactivated-5b2c8e0382c99

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@swooshdutch: You’re part of the problem.

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SwooshDutch

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@frosty988: lol there is no problem its just a vocal minority that throwing a hissy fit like a 3 year old for not getting their way... its pretty amusing knowing most of them are adults

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Risingdawn

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At least they've done this as a spin off and not as Fallout 5. I'd have been proper disappointed if FO5 had been a MP focused game tbh.

This could be pretty cool though, there should be more genre swapping spin offs out there instead of just retreading the same game formulas over and over.

Unless, ofc, this ends up being some Battle Royale bullshit, then just F#$k Bethesda.

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Powdered_Sugar

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@risingdawn: If you can play is single player then there's very little chance it'll be a battle royal game. (Seeing as how the entire gaming industry seems to have completely forgotten how to program bots >_>)

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death_burnout

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Don't worry, because when the servers eventually shut down this game wont exist anymore and you can forget they every made this decision in the first place. That is of course, if they don't do this again with all their games...

A crushing disappointment, this always online trend is woefully overrated and should be reserved for other franchises. An offline component would have gone a LONG way of remedying this.

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dont_redirectme

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@death_burnout: No, not reserved for other franchises. No franchise should be subject to always-online unless it's a 100% multiplayer-only game. Always-online for any game with any singleplayer/solo content is a serious violation of the customer's rights since the game is gone as soon as the servers are shut down.

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deactivated-5b2c8e0382c99

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This is gonna be a huge fail. The people who buy these games do so because they want the great single player experience that they’ve come to expect from these games. Stop trying to turn everything into a multiplayer game. Multiplayer games are the new open-world games. Time to over-saturate the market with this crap now.

This is the first time I’m taking a hard pass on a Fallout game. They lost me and a lot of other people with this one. No fucking thanks.

18 • 
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Nz

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"We've always wanted to see what our style of game could be with multiplayer."

And the chorus of fans and customers like myself - disagree. We want a solo campaign based game with a story and plot ..or you know..Fallout New Vegas 2.

17 • 
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wtf_666

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Damn...was hoping for something more like Fallout 4. No buy for me.

14 • 
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PSYCHOV3N0M

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@wtf_666: You spelled Fallout New Vegas wrong...

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deactivated-5b2c8e0382c99

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@wtf_666: Yeah. This is a no buy for just about every real Fallout fan.

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hmoobpaladin

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Cyberpunk 2077 is the only good thing so far. Bethesda has fallen.

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streamline

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Edited By streamline

Ridiculous. Bethesda couldn’t have come up with the idea for Fallout 764 years ago because Bethesda, as we know it, didn’t exist.

Also, “softcore survival game” explains the near nudity and sexual innuendos, but without really showing it.

2 • 
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masscrack

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@streamline:

wtf are you saying dude, they said fallout 76 came out 4 years ago, not 764 years ago.

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streamline

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@masscrack: “Bethesda came up with the idea for Fallout 76 four years ago”.

I was joking, btw

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masscrack

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@streamline: oh ok, couldn't tell lol my bad

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Ausgamer85

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All interest lost

15 • 
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skunkpants

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Perfect opportunity to see the world 25 years after the bombs fell, see how the survivors outside the vaults handled the early part of the fallout, be in a world before that which with become used to (BoS, Enclave, Super Mutants, Ghouls) came about.
Nah screw the wealth of story and world exploration, let's make an MP game and maybe throw in a Battle Royale mode.

Pass.

18 • 
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urbanman2004

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Really disappointing... Why are the publishers making modern game titles MP only. First CoD and now this, smh.

18 • 
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Thanatos2k

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Interest completely dissolved.

21 • 
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RELeon

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@Thanatos2k: Agreed. This killed about 99% of my interest in the game now. Ill keep tabs on it, but I probably won't get hyped.

18 •