Bethesda, after teasing an announcement for some time, has come out and revealed the existence of a new Fallout game, titled Fallout 76. The name comes from one of the Vault-Tec vaults (no. 76, specifically), which was supposed to be one of the first opened following the nuclear war that created the Fallout universe.
Indeed, the teaser trailer bears that out. Vault jumpsuits emblazoned with a large 76, pristine conditions inside the familiar vault setting and the remains of a party celebrating Reclamation Day. What we’re mostly seeing, though, is an empty vault. All the people have vacated.
What we’re not seeing is what the game itself will entail and Bethesda isn’t talking, yet. There is some speculation and rumour, mostly by way of gaming website Kotaku, claiming that Fallout 76 will be an online-based survival game. Citing “three people familiar with the project”, Kotaku says that the newest entry into Fallout canon will be based around online survival titles, in the vein of Rust and DayZ. Which basically means a whole lot of surviving with the aid of (and in sight/s of) other players. Hopefully there will be fewer rock-based cults.
It may just be rumour but it does make sense. Fallout 76 diverges from the usual naming convention for the game series, being the first title to be named for a vault. It takes place far earlier in the timeline than any previous game (shades of The Elder Scrolls Online, there), and the whole idea of rebuilding civilisation from scratch lends itself well to an online survival title. The base-building from Fallout 4 will apparently be making a reappearance as well — plus the trailer outright says “you must rebuild”. But… nothing’s officially official yet.
More information is set to be revealed on 10 June, when Bethesda hosts their E3 Showcase prior to the year’s largest gaming expo kicking off. We’ll be watching closely, to see just how on-target these rumours are.