🔗 Share this article

For the 64th substantial expansion following its launch, the multiplayer Fallout experience is gearing up to launch its biggest content update yet in December. Named the new expansion, this substantial update will add new weapons, new missions, and guide players to the newly accessible area of Ohio.

A Remarkable Evolution

Previously, the notion of this online Fallout experience receiving such a substantial update a considerable time after release would have appeared highly unlikely. At the time the MMO originally released in 2018, it was met with skepticism from both critics and players who considered the initial version problematic and half-baked. Numerous assumed it would suffer the same fate as other live-service ventures of that era.

We've just always trusted in this experience, commented the development lead. The debut was kind of like the opening act of our journey. Players emerge and they initially find established communities, and they learn about their world. The team's strategy was primarily keeping our heads down and continuing to produce the gameplay that we believe our fans will love, and that we would want to experience.

Discovering Fresh Ground

The new content represents the biggest ever expansion to date. The most significant aspect is the map expansion, allowing players to travel beyond into Ohio and investigate what developments have unfolded there. Fair warning: Danger lurks!

The designers explained that venturing into a different region after extended time in the original setting presented an excellent opportunity to experiment with an untouched location within the Fallout lore.

We hadn't really explored this region in the Fallout lore too much, explained the development lead. From our established world, if you head eastward, you begin entering the Washington DC area. That area is quite familiar. Ohio remained explored extensively. So, this installment being occurring before in the timeline provides us multiple creative opportunities. We decided to explore what's transpiring in Ohio!

Drawing Inspiration from Fan Favorites

The most surprises about the game's version of Ohio is that it's developed as a arid landscape. This might seem unexpected given the typical climate of Ohio, but there's a deliberate explanation for this creative choice: The aesthetic was directly influenced by the Capital Wasteland and New Vegas.

Rather than simply copying elements from classic installments, the creators concentrated on embodying the essential spirit of those games within Burning Springs.

It wasn't centered around studying those installments and declaring we must have specific elements, stated the creative director. The objective sought to create was taking the characteristic feel of those classic experiences and ensuring it accurately reflected in Burning Springs. What I instructed the team when we began working on the new region was: It needs to feature desert environments, Deathclaws, and hostile factions. To me, that embodies what the third installment and New Vegas characterize. Those are the key components that define the unique atmosphere of those experiences, and so I wanted that mirrored here.

Amazon Show Connection

The success of the Amazon streaming show created a substantial surge in community activity for the online game, with reports indicating a multiple times player growth. The studio understood they needed to utilize this circumstance, but were without the necessary time to execute a full crossover immediately.

The solution came through logical evolution when the developers discovered the ideal link with the noseless antihero, who becomes a quest giving character within the recent update.

We were determining what this new region would feature, what the overall tone would be, and then what the primary feature of the new region would evolve into, that's bounty hunting, commented the development lead. So who ideal for presenting these missions than this character? Since he is a dedicated fan of the franchise too, he was extremely enthusiastic to collaborate with us and make this happen. Therefore it wasn't originally from the beginning, but it emerged through natural progression of the gameplay.

Additional Content

This expansion isn't the last expansion for the multiplayer experience. The development team is already working on the first substantial 2026 update and planning more expansions extending as far as the seventy-second addition.

There was a moment where we didn't believe there would possibly exist an update 76, remarked the production director. Now we're at a phase where the situation is so great, for both the show and the online experience. It's actually somewhat incredible to contemplate that there's an update 76 that could potentially coincide with, you know, future developments!

Ongoing success of Fallout 76 stands as a demonstration of the development team's dedication and clear direction to developing upon their original concept while naturally including new elements that enrich rather than disturb the familiar environment.