Fallout 76 Updates Coming In Early 2019

Bethesda has closed out the year by laying out a roadmap of what we can expect the beginning of 2019 to bring to Fallout 76. The studio outlined a few details of patches coming in January, and promised more info to come early next year.

In the blog post, the studio noted that a mid-January patch will fix the lever-action rifle reload animation, some perk cards, and the crowds at Whitespring. The studio promised that going forward in 2019, patch notes will be accompanied by a brief explanation from developers detailing the rationale behind balance changes and adjustments. It's also working on a new mode without PVP restrictions, allowing you a little more flexibility in how you play. That will be coming in the first quarter of 2019.

It's fair to say that Fallout 76 has had a rocky launch. The game itself released in a buggy state, leading to a poor reception including in GameSpot's own review, which scored it a 4/10. It's been a series of mishaps since then, from an investigation into a PC refund policy to a bait-and-switch with canvas bags in the Collector's Edition, and finally a personal data leak. For its part Bethesda has continued to support the game with patches and has promised to listen to community feedback going forward.

"Bethesda has stated it intends to continue supporting the game for a long time, but at launch, Fallout 76 is a poor experience," wrote critic Edmond Tran. "There are echoes of the series' admirable qualities, but look past that facade, past the cute Vault Boy animations, past the familiar radio tracks, and you'll find no heart--just an inconsequential wasteland doomed to be nuked over and over again."

Despite its issues, it seems to have had a solid launch, selling decently well in physical copies according to data tracking firm NPD.