'Fallout 76' Concerns Prompt Law Firm to Investigate Bethesda for "Deceptive Trade Practices"

A law firm is reportedly investigating Bethesda Game Studios for "deceptive trade practices" following the release of Fallout 76.

Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is the law firm based out of Washington D.C. that's said to be investigating the developer, according to a post on the law firm's blog. The whole site is having trouble loading at publishing time, perhaps due to an influx of people trying to visit the blog, but a post on Reddit captured the text shown on the site that explains the law firm's stance.

"Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is currently investigating Bethesda Game Studios for releasing a heavily-glitched game, Fallout 76, and refusing to issue refunds for PC purchasers of the game who found it to be unplayable because of its technical problems," the post on the law firm's blog said. "While minor bugs and glitches are expected with the release of most new games, Fallout 76 launched with a 56GB patch that has proven to be but a starting point for the game's problems. Gamers who have tried to receive a refund because of the game's myriad glitches have been unable to do so since they downloaded the game, leaving them to deal with an unplayable experience until patches bring it back to a playable state."

It's also worth noting that the account that posted on Reddit is "migrath," a name that appears to be a combination of the law firm's main names and has a history filled with months of posts redirecting readers to investigations being conducted by Migliaccio & Rathod LLP. The full post on Reddit asks readers if they've tried to receive a refund for Fallout 76 and asks those who have to contact them via phone or email to speak on the topic. The post also said Migliaccio & Rathod LLP has "years of experience in class action litigation against large corporations," so while a class-action lawsuit hasn't officially been mentioned, it seems like that's what the law firm might be considering.

The news of the investigation Bethesda follows Fallout 76's tumultuous launch where the studio was reportedly offering refunds for the PC version of the game, though at least one player said their refund offer was withdrawn by Bethesda. Getting a refund for the PC version of the game would've been a much simpler process had it been released on Steam and fallen under the distributor's refund policy, but Bethesda chose not to release the game on Steam and instead distributed it through the company's own Bethesda Launcher.

We've reached out to Bethesda and Migliaccio & Rathod LLP with a request for comment and will update the article accordingly if one is received.