Fallout 76’s Online Component Has Changed How Bethesda Looks At the Series

There’s still a lot of talk surrounding Fallout 76 just a couple of months out of its release this November, including how it could very well last “forever” if popular enough. But what’s interesting is just how much online components have changed how Bethesda looks at the series.

Pete Hines, who serves as senior vice president of marketing and PR, recently spoke to Yahoo about just how much Fallout 76 is shaking things up, especially when it comes to structure around its online world.

“If it was just Fallout 5 it would be like ‘it’s a single player Fallout and here’s what’s new or different’,” Hines explained. “We’d have to do a lot but there will also be a lot that people already know or understand. When we’re saying it’s a big departure there are a lot of questions. How is this going to work as an online game because it’s so different? Even things like ‘what does PvP mean’ Is somebody just going to be able to kill me over and over again? No, we have a system for it.”

He then talked about the reveals that came with QuakeCon a few weeks ago, talking about the systems at great length and answering questions from fans — even though it still didn’t disclose when the Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. would take place.

“So at QuakeCon we said ‘here’s how it works, here is the downside to if you become the kind of person that runs around murdering people’,” Hines said. “Here are the negative connotations and everybody’s like ‘ok, that’s kinda cool’. It is making sure folks understand because there is a lot of new gameplay. Something as simple as ‘can I play by myself’. And it’s like ‘yeah, you can’. Is it just a shooter? No it’s a role-playing game. There’s still the SPECIALS system, you’re still choosing perks and levelling up. Even that basic thing people don’t assume. Is VATS still in the game? Yeah, it just works differently.”

As far as whether this will change how things are done in Fallout from hereon in, Hines wouldn’t say. It seems the team is focusing on one thing at a time — and that includes making Fallout 76 the very best it can be.

Fallout 76 is set to arrive on November 14 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.