Even prior to Fallout 76‘s release, the online-centric prequel faced a world of trouble. Because of the beta, fans were unsure of whether or not the full product would meet expectations. In many respects, it did not. However, Bethesda Game Studios appears to be turning things around for the better. During E3 2019, the studio revealed a wave of new incoming content. This show many that neither the studio nor publisher Bethesda Softworks would walk away from the title. In a recent interview, the publisher’s Senior VP of Global Marketing and Communications, Pete Hines, explained why tossing Fallout 76 aside wasn’t even an option.
In discussing with GamesIndustry.biz why Bethesda will continue to support Fallout 76, Hines said,
It’s just in our DNA. I appreciate there might be folks who are tempted to throw up their hands and [call it quits], but that’s just not how we’re wired. We believed in it. The fact that it didn’t go the way we expected and it had issues that maybe we should have foreseen and should have planned for doesn’t mean we didn’t believe in what the game was and could become.
When questioned on whether the move to continue supporting Fallout 76 is meant to restore the studio’s good reputation, Hines admitted it does play a part. Yet, there’s an “element of pride” that also keeps the team motivated. They need to prove they could see things through. Hines told the publication,
For sure, that had some amount to do with it. BGS is a team that’s made a lot of very highly successful things. Still, in my opinion, they are one of the most respected and decorated studios in the world. There is an element of pride — not in a ‘we don’t quit and give up’ way, but we need to show and prove that we are going to stick with it, and that we don’t just hit some adversity and throw up our hands and go, ‘Oh this is too hard, let’s do something else.’ That’s not how we think about things, either as a publisher or as a studio.
How this will all pan out in the end remains to be seen. But, again, Bethesda still has many plans in place for the title’s longevity. With content such as Nuclear Winter, Fallout 76’s battle royale mode, and the introduction of NPCs with Wastelanders, which will launch in a free update this fall, it seems as though things are beginning to fall in place for the online experience.
Fallout 76 is available now for the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One platforms.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
