🔗 Share this article

This marks the sixty-fourth major update following its debut, Fallout 76 is set to launch its biggest expansion yet during the holiday season. Named the new expansion, this substantial update will add fresh armaments, additional quests, and transport players to the freshly added region of the Ohio wasteland.

A Notable Journey

At one point, the idea of Fallout 76 getting such a major update a considerable time after launch would have been considered unimaginable. At the time the online experience originally released in 2018, it was met with skepticism from reviewers and gamers who considered the initial version problematic and half-baked. Some thought it would suffer the same fate as other live-service attempts of that era.

We have consistently had faith in this project, explained the creative director. The debut was comparable to the first chapter of our journey. Players arrive and they initially find anybody there, and they become familiar with their surroundings. Our approach was primarily remaining dedicated and persistently develop the content that we know our community will appreciate, and that we personally enjoy.

Venturing Into New Territory

Burning Springs represents the biggest ever expansion to date. The most significant feature is the territory addition, allowing players to cross the border into Ohio and investigate what circumstances have unfolded there. Spoiler alert: Danger lurks!

According to the creators that exploring a new state after extended time in the original setting presented an perfect chance to develop an untouched location within the Fallout lore.

We had not extensively covered Ohio in the established canon extensively, stated the development lead. From our established world, if you travel east, you begin entering the Capital Wasteland. We've explored quite familiar. The Ohio territory hasn't really been explored too much. So, Fallout 76 being occurring before in the series history gives us various creative opportunities. We decided to explore what's happening in this new region!

Finding Influence from Classic Titles

The most stands out about Fallout 76's interpretation of this new territory is that it's presented as a arid landscape. This may look unexpected given the real-world location of the region, but there's a intentional explanation for this artistic direction: The appearance was directly influenced by the Capital Wasteland and the Mojave Desert.

Instead of directly replicating aspects from classic installments, the creators concentrated on embodying the fundamental tone of those games within Burning Springs.

It wasn't focused on examining those titles and saying we want particular aspects, stated the creative director. The objective wanted to achieve was embracing the distinct tone of those classic experiences and having that accurately reflected in this expansion. The direction I instructed the developers when we began working on the new region was: It requires dry regions, dangerous monsters, and hostile factions. To me, that captures what the third installment and the Vegas title characterize. Those are the essential elements that define the unique atmosphere of those titles, and so I aimed to have that recreated here.

Amazon Show Connection

The popularity of the Amazon streaming show created a substantial surge in player numbers for Fallout 76, with accounts indicating a multiple times fold increase. The studio recognized they needed to utilize this opportunity, but were without the adequate schedule to create a comprehensive connection right away.

The solution came through logical evolution when the developers identified the natural intersection with The Ghoul, who serves as a mission providing character within the fresh content.

We were determining what this additional area would include, what the general atmosphere would be, and then what the hallmark aspect of the new region would evolve into, that's bounty hunting, commented the development lead. What person ideal for presenting such activities than Walton Goggins? He being a dedicated fan of the franchise too, he was very eager to collaborate with us and achieve this integration. So it wasn't originally from the onset, but it evolved through natural progression of the gameplay.

Coming Updates

Burning Springs doesn't represent the last content addition for the multiplayer experience. The studio is already working on the initial major next year's content and planning additional content reaching as far as the seventy-second addition.

There was a time where we didn't believe there would actually happen an that many content additions, commented the production director. Now we're at a point where circumstances have become so great, for both the television series and the game. It's genuinely somewhat incredible to think that there's an seventy-sixth expansion that might eventually align with, potentially, future developments!

Ongoing engagement of Fallout 76 serves as a testament to the studio's persistence and consistent vision to building upon their founding vision while skillfully integrating new elements that enhance rather than disturb the existing universe.