Fallout 76 had something of an infamous launch for all the wrong reasons. The game was flat out broken in many ways, and it seemed Bethesda had snafu after snafu about the game. To their credit, they have done a lot of updating to it, something that continues to this day, to help improve what the game is, with many praising the current state of the title. Still, a lot of people were let down, and that’s something Todd Howard acknowledges and says taught them a lot about what their fans expect.
Speaking with The Guardian, Director and Executive Producer of Bethesda Game Studios spoke about 76. There he acknowledges that the game’s initial launch “let a lot of people down.” He also says that 76, as well as their other online title, The Elder Scrolls Online, helped teach them that many of their fans want something akin to a single-player experience even with multiplayer titles.
“We have found that even if it’s multiplayer, whether it’s Elder Scrolls Online or Fallout 76, a large number of our players want to play it like a single-player game and not have the other players distract from it. Games handle multiplayer in different ways, and I think it all has merit.”
Howard has expressed that the company would be open to doing more multiplayer titles in the future, but it sounds as if even if they do, it will probably have a solo-friendly approach from the get-go. Of course, by this time next year, the company will most likely be owned in full by Microsoft as well, so it’s hard to say what the future holds one way or another in that regard.
