In an ambitious, misguided attempt to resurrect Fallout 76 from the dead, Bethesda has announced a new premium subscription service for the beleaguered multiplayer survival game.
Unsurprisingly, the news has proven perfect ammunition for a dressing down on social media.
Fallout 1st Aims to Fix Fallout 76 for $99 Per Year
Dubbed Fallout 1st, a 12-month subscription costs the princely sum of $99.99. You can also opt to pay $12.99 a month, which makes it more expensive than a monthly subscription to Google Stadia Pro (although you’re actually guaranteed to play Fallout 76).
We heard rumblings of things to come for Fallout 76 earlier this month when Bethesda pushed backed the long-awaited NPC-introducing Wasterlanders update. However, few would have expected such an audacious money-grubbing move.
Short of deconstructing what amounts to a pretty meager set of features packaged into the Fallout 76 membership, here’s the official blurb:
The Internet Reacts in Predictable Fashion
The reaction has unsurprisingly produced some real gems. Much of the backlash centers on subscription features that should have been in Fallout 76 at launch. Other critics are using the membership announcement to plug Obsidian’s recently released title, The Outer Worlds.
Here is a selection of some of the best.
We're proud to announce Fallout 1st, our $100 per year premium membership that gives you access features that should have been in Fallout 76 to begin with.
Fallout 1st: Fuck You, Pay Us. pic.twitter.com/zJRYCh1UCq
— Mitten Squad (@MittenSquad) October 23, 2019
Fallout 76 is now offering a monthly MMO-style subscription fee in return for the stuff listed below.
12.99 USD.
It is amazing that after everything that's happened with this game that they're still topping it. This is the worst thing they've done so far. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/zEsEEpbfEF
— Joseph Anderson (@jph_anderson) October 23, 2019
https://twitter.com/TheGamesCage/status/1187019817833943040
hey instead of subscribing to fallout 76's terrible fucking subscription model that gives you fuck all for your money and is an extra subscription cost on the product that you already paid money for,
subscribe to humble monthly and support indie devs and charity
— Carmia (@Swymbiote) October 23, 2019
If Fallout 76 can have the balls to ask you to pay a year's worth of subscription for content that should have been in the game at launch, you can have the confidence to transition.
— Leaf~ (@LeafTilde) October 23, 2019
remember when Fallout 76 slashed the launch price in half after just 2 weeks
simpler times…. pic.twitter.com/NBfbTfcqCX
— Buns @ Fishing (@SuperButterBuns) October 23, 2019
Fallout 76 is getting a membership program which is basically telling you to go buy The Outer Worlds instead https://t.co/8D2YDQe47s pic.twitter.com/bO5Zbv46db
— Final Weapon (@FinalWeaponX4) October 23, 2019
What’s Bethesda Doing?
From where we stand, the new scheme is unlikely to be the panacea needed to reverse the fortunes of Fallout 76. Less than a few hours into letting the news loose into the wilds of the internet, it has already exacerbated longstanding ill sentiment towards the game.
It’s difficult to understand what’s driving Bethesda’s strategy at this point.