Oh boy, here we go. Look up the word controversy in the dictionary, and you'll surely see the words Fallout 76 next to a picture of Todd Howard's beaming grin. Even though the game came out almost a year ago, we're still hearing stories that make you wonder what exactly is going on over at Bethesda?
Announcing the Fallout 1st membership through a blog post, Bethesda will give players access to private servers (they're calling these private worlds), 1,650 atoms per month (which equates to around £16.50 in real world money), a survival tent, a scrapbox with unlimited storage, exclusive icons, emotes and a new outfit. The real kicker, is that this will cost you £11.99 per month or £99.99 for a whole year. Yes really.
When you weigh this up against the fact that you can pick up subscription services like Xbox Games Pass, PS Plus, hell even Netflix, for less than this; the decision begs the question... Why? Why would anybody pay for this?
It's no secret that Fallout 76 has been struggling with a dwindling playerbase almost since launch. Hamstrung by bugs, dull gameplay and littered with absurd mictrotransactions, the game was a far cry from the online Fallout experience fans had hoped for. While the Fallout 1st membership does address the private worlds request those people who stuck around wanted, the fact that it comes at such a high price is bizarre to say the least.
I don't profess to know much about business, but surely charging your loyal playerbase tooth and nail for something that probably should have been in the game in the first place is just a bad move. It could be, of course, that Bethesda know the game is done for, and is taking it round the back of the shed to put it out of its misery with one last money bullet. If this is to be Fallout 76's death knell, it'll have died the way it lived. Mired in controversy.
Only time will tell if this will somehow pan out to be a positive decision by Bethesda and bring players who wanted private services back from all corners of the wasteland but, honestly? I think you'd have to be crazy to fork over the money for this, even if you're a die-hard fan.
Topics: Bethesda Studios, Fallout, Bethesda