Bethesda has announced that Fallout 76 has hit an impressive new milestone – it has been experienced by 25 million players. The company has released a new video celebrating this, with members of the development team thanking the title’s community for all of the support that has made the game’s success possible.
Along with this, the studio has also reaffirmed that a free update is coming to Fallout 76 on December 1st that will improve the pet system of the game. The update has simply been titled “World Pets”, and more details will be revealed as we get closer to its release.
The update was first announced earlier this month with a trailer that gave us our first look at how the new pet system will work. While players could keep pets at their CAMPs, once the update goes out, these pets can now accompany players as they make their way through the open world. Pets featured in the system will range from dogs and cats to radhogs, and players can even tame a Deathclaw if they are brave enough. Each pet will offer unique perks and can be issued commands by players.
In the meantime, Fallout 76 is slated to get darker content soon. Creative director Jonathan Rush confirmed this back in August, and also discussed how the development team plans to celebrate Halloween in the game.
The Fallout franchise, while well-known for how comedic it can often be, is also quite dark in moments. The usual emphasis on comedy has even helped the franchise’s darker moments stand out even more starkly. However, what kind of dark content will make its way to Fallout 76 remains to be seen, since it can be anything from a new narrative with oppressive themes, some horror experiences like the single-player games are known to feature, or even just more ultraviolent gameplay.
Throughout the year, Bethesda has also been working on bringing Fallout 76 to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, allowing console players to finally move on from the versions they were playing through backwards compatibility. The company tested out these ports earlier this year before eventually releasing them in September alongside the game’s The Slasher update.
Features of the current-gen versions include a steady frame rate of 60 FPS across all consoles along with visual improvements like improved draw distances, softer shadows, and support for 4K displays on PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X. All current-gen versions also include support for 1440p displays as well as variable refresh rates, allowing players to experience smoother frame rates.
While Bethesda is working on The Elder Scrolls 6 for now, the company has confirmed that it will eventually make a brand-new entry in the Fallout franchise. While you wait for that, you can look forward to Obsidian Entertainment’s take on the franchise, especially since the last time the studio worked on a Fallout game – New Vegas – it was widely considered to be one of the best entries in the franchise. Remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are also confirmed to be in the works.
