Fallout 76, the first MMO in the Fallout universe, had a difficult start in 2018, although ratings on Steam have since recovered. One of those involved reveals how he experienced the time back then and why he left Bethesda after 14 years.
What was the deal with Fallout 76? The first MMO in the popular Fallout series had a difficult time from the start. Many players actually wanted the single-player sequel Fallout 5, but there was also frustration about a pre-order edition without a game and missing NPCs.
When it was released in November 2018, Fallout 76 had to contend with fairly mixed reviews. A former Bethesda employee now reveals how he experienced this time.
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Developer says no one expected so much criticism
What kind of employee is this? Nathan Purkeypile worked for Bethesda from 2007 to 2021 and was instrumental as lead artist in the great open worlds of Fallout 3 and 4. However, while working on Bethesda’s current big title Starfield, Purkeypile decided to leave the studio.
Now the Bethesda veteran is working as a solo developer on his own game, “The Axis Unseen.” In the well-known Noclip podcast on YouTube, Purkeypile spoke about the time after the release of Fallout 76 (via 3D Juegos).
What was it like back then? The launch of Fallout was terrible, says Purkeypile, and there’s no need to talk about it. “We were like the villains of the internet, the most hated thing ever,” said the developer.
The negativity was quite difficult for everyone in the team to deal with, Purkeypile continues. You would have known that the game had errors, but you probably didn’t expect the amount and volume of criticism.
Purkeypile says he was in favor of adding NPCs to the game at the time, but he also didn’t think their absence would be the worst thing ever, “like killing a puppy.”
Here you can see the whole video, starting at 5:46 it’s about Fallout 76.
Were there any positives? As lead artist, Fallout 76’s huge map fell under Purkeypile’s responsibility. It was one of the few aspects of the game that was actually praised at launch. Players would have said, “This game sucks and I hate it, but this is a cool map, this is cool artwork.” With this memory, you can hear pride in the developer’s words.
Overall, however, the experience was one of the reasons why he now prefers to be an indie developer: no matter what he does, he knows that he will probably never make the Internet as angry again as he did back then.
How is Fallout 76 doing today? On Steam, the MMO now has a solid rating of 75% overall recommendations with almost 50,000 reviews. Just in December 2023, Bethesda proudly announced that it had broken the 17 million player mark. They also revealed what will happen next with Fallout 76 in 2024. According to Bethesda, we are far from finished.