Fallout 76: The New Fallout 1st Subscription Service Gives You Private Servers, But It's Not Cheap

Fallout 76 players can now access a new premium subscription service called Fallout 1st, Bethesda has announced, which will add some much-requested features into the game. The membership service is now available to purchase and includes access to private servers--which Bethesda calls "private worlds"--for you and your friends, exclusive items, and other bonuses. [Update: Players who have subscribed to Fallout 1st have reported a variety of issues, including the apparent loss of the scrap the subscription is meant to protect. However, Bethesda says this is actually an issue with the UI, rather than something worse.]

Private worlds has been one of the most requested features since Fallout 76 was released, and received without much warmth, back in November 2018. Last week Bethesda revealed that private servers would be coming to the game this week, but there was no indication that the feature would be locked behind a subscription paywall. You can purchase a Fallout 1st subscription for $12.99 / £11.99 a month, or buy a full year at a 36% discount for $99.99 / £99.99. It's a steep price to pay in order to play Fallout 76 privately, either alone or with friends. For comparison, an Xbox Game Pass subscription costs $9.99 / £10.99 a month, and features both Fallout New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, among a myriad of other games. At least only the owner of a private server is required to be a Fallout 1st member. Bethesda has also said it's looking into incorporating mod support in private worlds.

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Aside from receiving access to private worlds, Fallout 1st members will also receive a monthly bonus of 1,650 atoms to spend in the Atomic Shop. There will also be exclusive discounts on items in the store, and members will gain access to their own private Scrapbox, too, letting you store all of your crafting components in a separate place to the limited Stash Box. Meanwhile, the new survival tent will save you some caps by acting as a fast travel point you can place anywhere on the map, and unique emotes and the Ranger Armor outfit give you some more cosmetic options.

Fallout 76 had a rocky launch and was met with largely negative reviews, including GameSpot's review which awarded it a 4/10. Bethesda has been releasing updates fairly regularly, though, adding features like a battle royale mode and raids.