Fallout 76 Does Not "Mark the Future" of Bethesda, Todd Howard Explains

Bethesda had an absolutely killer E3 showcase with reveals for every franchise we could possible hope for. With a showcase that thousands and thousands of gamers are calling their "best one in years," some even saying ever, there was a lot to enjoy. Not only that, but the developers delivered on their promise of an in-depth reveal of Fallout 76 and for the most part fans are interested in seeing their much smaller take on the "MMO" genre. Though, predictably, not everyone was happy.

The map of Fallout 76 promises to be four times bigger than that of Fallout 4 (which was huge). Pair that with the fact that the online experience will pair your with a player size of 12-30 ("dozens"), the chances of running into enemy players are slimmer than you'd think. Still, many have been claiming that Bethesda dipping their toes into small-scale multiplayer marks the "death of gaming" and that this is "the future" Bethesda wants to take, despite numerous instances where they stated to the contrary. Now, Todd Howard is here to once again set the record straight - hoping the 100th time is the charm when alleviating fan fears.

"It doesn't mark the future," Howard told gi.biz in a recent interview. "Corporately we've done a mix—people forget sometimes. Elder Scrolls Online is one of the biggest online games in the world, we have Fallout Shelter which we keep updating, and Elder Scrolls: Legends."

"Anyone who has ever said 'this is the future and this part of gaming is dead' has been proven wrong every single time. We like to try it all. For a long time we wanted to try a multiplayer game and we had this idea. We shouldn't be afraid. We should try it."

This isn't The Elder Scrolls Online, and it certainly isn't World of Warcraft - which is made by Blizzard - it's small scale, a spin-off - which is why it isn't titled Fallout 5, and a way for the developers to air out the ideas they've reportedly had since before even Fallout 4.

Pete Hines even addressed this very issue earlier last month, "But the truth is this game is not what everybody expects or immediately jumps to. I understand when you hear 'online' or you hear 'multiplayer' or 'PvP' that people jump to 'well, it's an MMO' or 'it's a free-for-all where everybody's just shooting each other' or 'I'm gonna get griefed constantly by other players'. And the fact is, this just doesn't fit into the mould of anything else, because that's what Bethesda Game Studios does."

There's nothing wrong with a little boundary pushing, and Bethesda has more than proven that they known how to weave a good tale. To read the rest of the interview, including more about the challenge system, you can check out the full interview right here.