Bethesda has held its first ever Fallout Day broadcast, using it to reveal more of what’s coming to Fallout 76.
Fallout Day is today, October 23, because in Fallout lore the Great War started and ended on October 23, 2077 when nuclear weapons devastated the world. But there were no explosive announcements around new Fallout games or megaton reveals for Fallout 5, which Bethesda has said is in the works, potentially after The Elder Scrolls 6. Instead, Bethesda developers talked about new features for MMO Fallout 76.
Bethesda began its broadcast by saying it’s seen more players in Fallout this year than ever before, setting record numbers across almost every title in the franchise. Fallout 76, now approaching its sixth anniversary, has passed 20 million players, a figure achieved earlier this year off the back of the explosive popularity of Prime Video’s Fallout TV show. To coincide with Fallout Day, Bethesda said you can play Fallout 76 for free until October 29 as part of a free play week.
Onto the new features, and Fallout 76 is finally getting camp pets later this year. The feature kicks off with two pets: a cat and a dog. As you’d expect, you can pet them. But beyond interacting with your camp pets, you can dress them and place furniture such as scratching posts or a bone-filled dirt pile for them to enjoy. Bethesda teased the addition of new pets later on, “and maybe some that are not so furry.”
Also coming in December are player titles. These include a prefix and a suffix you can combine to create your nickname. Player titles are earned as rewards.
For endgame players, there’s the upcoming Gleaming Depths raid, a traditional MMO-style dungeon set to challenge the hardcore. You’ll need to be level 300-ish plus, and you’ll need an organized, well-equipped squad of up to four players to have any chance of making progress, Bethesda added. This raid is set in an abandoned Enclave research lab, and includes the Ultracite Terror, a final boss that’s basically a giant irradiated snake.
Elsewhere, 4-star legendaries are coming to Fallout 76, offering the highest tier weapons and armor in the game.
As Bethesda has announced, coming early 2025 for the first time in Fallout history, you’ll be able to transform into a ghoul. During the Fallout Day broadcast, Bethesda showed off ghoul gameplay and revealed how it works.
Once you hit level 50 and complete the Ghoulification quest, you’ll no longer have to worry about radiation because you’ll be immune to radiation damage. In fact, rads heal you and unlock unique abilities. This also means you don’t have to worry about needing to eat to live, but instead of hunger and thirst you’ll have a new feral meter to keep an eye on.
Going feral has a few perks of its own, such as turning into a crazed berserker, a hand-to-hand combatant who can “rip the face off a Deathclaw.” Ghoul-specific perk cards include Battle-Genes (while in combat, gain 1HP per second). Bethesda said the ghoul will hopefully open up dozens of new playstyles, given how differently it works.
There are unique narrative options, too, that revolve around the various factions’ hatred of ghouls. The Brotherhood of Steel hate Ghouls, for example, so expect a tough time from them. For Ghoul players who still want to complete story quests with factions that normally wouldn’t ally with a Ghoul, “there may be a way to fool them,” Bethesda teased. If you don’t get on with being a ghoul, you can revert back to a human. Bethesda said it’s hoping to see ghoul parades and ghoul camps when ghouls go live in Fallout 76.
And finally, Bethesda teased fishing in Fallout 76 — a feature players have asked to be added to the game for years now.
The Fallout Day broadcast ended with Bethesda development chief Todd Howard thanking fans for their support and saying the studio is looking forward to more Fallout even after 20 years working on the franchise.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
