Fallout 76 Will Never Feature Offline Play, For Good Reason

Bethesda is trying something a little different for the Fallout franchise with the spin-off Fallout 76 coming soon. Though not a full-scale PvP game, the toe dipping into online play for this particular series is one that has intrigued many. With a map four times the size of Fallout 4 and such a small server size, the team over at Bethesda are working hard to ensure that this gamble years in the making will pay off for their fans.

But one aspect, despite the smaller server size and the availability of private servers, that players keep asking about is an offline mode. Now it’s important to realise that this is not Fallout 5, this is a spin-off – a prequel. It’s not meant to be a replica of previous entries and the studio has mentioned numerous times that this has been an idea they’ve flirted with for over a decade. That being said, this is a title that was built around servers. On a basic engineering level, the entire game is built on server play. It’s because of this that fans will never see purely ‘offline’ play become a reality for 76. Bethesda’s Pete Hines explained:

And once again, the idea of private servers did come up saying that this option is essentially offline play in the social sense:

Still, one more time for reiteration sake – Bethesda has already stated that 76’s direction is not the direction the franchise is going. This is its own title within the franchise, a game fulfilling an idea they had that many did ask for. For me personally, I’ve always wanted to take to the Wasteland with friends but I didn’t want a massive scale like that seen in The Elder Scrolls Online. It’s a nice blend of online play without completely changing the core of what Fallout means.

We’ll be able to see for ourselves when Fallout 76 releases on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 14th!