10 Times Video Games Didn't Care What You Think

4. Fallout 76 Forgot Its Audience

You’d think that five main entry games and four spin-offs would be enough for Bethesda to be very concretely aware of what it is their audience loves about Fallout games.

For those playing at home, it’s largely the varied opportunities to roleplay effectively, the sprawling lived-in game world, and the curious characters that influence our protagonist’s motivations and progress through their central journey. To be a fly on the wall, then, for the conversation that began with the suggestion to create a Fallout game that would feature no human NPCs in the entire wasteland, would be fascinating. But this suggestion was made material in the final product. But with no other characters to help, hurt, or otherwise address, left our post-apocalyptic journey feeling soulless and joyless.

The fact that our friends could now join us given Fallout 76 was the first online multiplayer title in the series was kind of cool, but it was no longer the world we wanted to share.

Disappointment isn’t a term that carries enough weight for how poorly Fallout 76 went down with fans and critics alike, and it was only because of the irate reaction that it finally seemed like Bethesda cared about their missteps in their vision of the game. Players have since been gifted the Fallout Classic Collection by way of an apology and the game is certainly better than it was. It even has NPCs now, but you’d be forgiven for leaving it behind long ago assuming Bethesda just willingly lost touch with their fans, perhaps assuming 76 could paint a pathway to a longer monetisation model.

Either way, players felt wildly ignored and undervalued, but I’ve still got hope for the next one.