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Bethesda intends for Fallout 76 to last "forever"

Considering long-term support for future releases, Bethesda's Pete Hines said the studio intends for Fallout 76 to last "forever," "in perpetuity."

Kevin Tucker

September 14, 2018 12:15 PM

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Video game fans have likely noticed a shift in development trends away from games that are essentially "complete" when they release and instead toward games that constantly evolve through time. By constantly engaging with players, games can not only stay relevant for years, they can also provide steady income for developers for the foreseeable future. It's a plan that's worked wonders for Grand Theft Auto 5, and it's a direction Bethesda intends to take with Fallout 76, with Pete Hines himself stating that the company intends for the game to live "forever."

Speaking to Metro, Pete Hines was asked how long Bethesda expects Fallout 76 to last, with consideration to the modern games-as-service approach. This is what he had to say:

"Forever. I'm not being ironic. Like, forever. Because other people have said, ‘Is your timeline two years or five years?’ And I said, ‘Well, they’re still playing Morrowind and you go online and look at how many people are playing Fallout 4 and Skyrim. Those games have been out for four and seven years, and there are literally hundreds of thousands of people playing those games every single day, every single month.

"So [for] Fallout 76, our timeline is in perpetuity."

Despite full intentions to keep Fallout 76 relevant for the foreseeable future — which, depending on individual imaginations, could last beyond the collapse of our solar system and into the period where the universe's thermal energy is depleted — Hines still doesn't know "what that content is gonna be [or] what it's gonna look like." He just knows that Fallout 76 has the potential to stay the course, and the studio will do its best to make sure gamers always have a reason to continue playing.

Fallout 76 is slated to release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 14. Players who want an early taste of the action will be able to jump in on the Fallout 76 beta (or B.E.T.A.) test beginning sometime in October, and all progress made within will transfer over to the full version of the game after release.

Kevin Tucker

Guides Editor

Kevin Tucker is a core component of Shacknews' powerful guide development team. For questions, concerns, tips, or to share constructive criticism, he can be reached on Twitter @dukeofgnar or through e-mail at kevin.tucker@shacknews.com.