🔗 Share this article

For the 64th substantial expansion since its initial release, Fallout 76 is gearing up to receive its most substantial content update yet during the holiday season. Called Burning Springs, this massive update will add additional firepower, new missions, and guide players to the freshly added territory of the Ohio wasteland.

A Notable Evolution

Previously, the idea of this online Fallout experience receiving such a significant update multiple years after release would have appeared impossible. At the time the MMO first launched in 2018, it received negative reviews from both critics and players who considered the initial version problematic and half-baked. Many believed it would suffer the same fate as other live-service attempts of that time.

We've just continuously trusted in this experience, commented the creative director. The debut was similar to the first chapter of our story. Players come out and they don't see much content, and they explore their environment. Our approach was just remaining dedicated and persistently create the content that we are confident our players will enjoy, and that we personally enjoy.

Exploring New Territory

This expansion represents the biggest ever update to date. The key aspect is the territory addition, allowing players to venture outside into Ohio and explore what circumstances have occurred there. Fair warning: Trouble awaits!

According to the creators that exploring a different region after considerable duration in the original setting presented an perfect chance to experiment with an new setting within the Fallout universe.

We had not extensively covered Ohio in the Fallout lore in depth, explained the development lead. Starting from the established world, if you move east, you start approaching the Capital Wasteland. That area is well established. Ohio hasn't really been touched on extensively. So, this installment being set earliest in the timeline provides us numerous development possibilities. Let's see what's transpiring in this new region!

Drawing Inspiration from Classic Titles

The most stands out about the game's depiction of this new territory is that it's designed as a arid landscape. This might seem unexpected given the real-world location of the region, but there's a strategic reason for this design decision: The appearance was heavily inspired by the Capital Wasteland and New Vegas.

Instead of simply copying aspects from previous titles, the development team concentrated on capturing the essential spirit of those experiences within this update.

Our approach wasn't focused on looking at those installments and saying we need certain features, explained the development lead. Our goal sought to create was adopting the unique atmosphere of those previous titles and having that faithfully captured in Burning Springs. What I told the team when we began working on the additional area was: It needs to feature desert environments, dangerous monsters, and hostile factions. To me, that embodies what the third installment and the Vegas title represent. Those are the fundamental aspects that establish the characteristic feel of those games, and so I wanted that recreated here.

Amazon Show Integration

The success of the Amazon streaming show produced a substantial increase in community activity for Fallout 76, with reports indicating a substantial fold increase. The creators understood they needed to capitalize on this circumstance, but didn't have the adequate schedule to implement a full crossover instantly.

The approach came through logical evolution when the developers found the ideal link with the noseless antihero, who serves as a mission providing vendor within the new expansion.

During development we determining what this new region would feature, what the characteristic feel would be, and then what the hallmark aspect of the new region would evolve into, that's hunter quests, commented the development lead. So who more appropriate to represent bounty hunting than The Ghoul? Since he is a knowledgeable admirer of the series too, he was very eager to work with us and make this happen. Therefore it wasn't planned initially, but it evolved through logical evolution of the gameplay.

Coming Updates

Burning Springs won't be the last major update for the online game. The creators is actively creating on the first substantial future expansion and planning further updates reaching as far as the seventy-second addition.

There was a moment where we didn't believe there would possibly exist an seventy-sixth expansion, remarked the development lead. Currently we are at a phase where circumstances have become so great, for both the television series and the online experience. It's truly quite remarkable to think that there's an that milestone that could potentially sync up with, you know, who knows!

Ongoing engagement of Fallout 76 serves as a demonstration of the development team's dedication and clear direction to expanding upon their founding vision while naturally including new elements that improve rather than disturb the familiar environment.