Following the startlingly negative reception Fallout 76 was met with launch, which inevitably led to lower-than-expected sales as well, the notion that Bethesda might be considering turning it into a free-to-play title to drive engagement and increase player activity became quite commonly cited. Given the fact that one of the biggest and most common criticisms for the game was that it didn’t feel at all like it deserved the price tag it launched with, that made at least a lick of sense as well.
Recently, there had been rumours that suggested that that was indeed going to happen, after retailer EB Games stopped selling physical copies of Fallout 76. Naturally, those who paid money for the game wouldn’t be too happy with this, and would feel burned by a game with no short amount of issues going free-to-play so shortly after they themselves had paid full price for it. But Bethesda has moved quickly to clarify in no vague terms that that’s not going to happen.
Speaking on Twitter, the publisher simply said- “There is no truth to this rumor.”
So there you have it. Fallout 76 is not going free-to-play. It remains, for now, a full priced game (barring discounts, of course). Bethesda, of course, is actively working to make sure that the game receives plenty of post-launch support, both by way of constant updates to fix stuff that isn’t working, as well as updates that introduce new mechanics and features. The game is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.