Creative Director Jon Rush and Production Director Bill LaCoste teach me how to stay cool in the irradiated waters of Bethesda’s multiplayer RPG, out now on console and PC.
Fallout 76 had a rocky launch in 2018, but that didn’t deter developer Bethesda from its commitment to the post-apocalyptic, multiplayer RPG. Now, with dozens of updates under its belt, the RPG is celebrating the release of its latest update: Gone Fission. In this new “cozy update,” you can set up C.A.M.P. along the irradiated waters of Appalachia and soak in the sun, enjoy a cold Nuka-Cola, and catch one of many radioactive fish swimming upstream.
At this year’s Summer Game Fest, I enjoyed purified cans of Vault-Tec water alongside Fallout 76’s Creative Director Jon Rush and Production Director Bill LaCoste. Besides the calm and clear waters of downtown LA, I cast out my line and learned all I could about the latest update, how the community plays a role in Fallout 76’s development, and proper fishing form.
The Fallout series debuted on PCs in 1997. The original game, entitled Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game, earned critical and commercial success. It was praised for its open-ended gameplay, character system, plot, and setting. It won numerous awards. However, it wasn’t until Fallout 3 that the series truly broke into the mainstream.
Fallout 76 is the latest in the series and the first to be built around multiplayer. Despite being the latest entry in the Fallout series, Fallout 76 is the earliest in the timeline. As Jon Rush sees it, that’s a blessing.
“[Fallout] 76 occurring the furthest back in time gives us a [certain] amount of leeway to tell those new stories,” Rush said, “and we have the luxury of being able to lightly touch parts of stories people have already experienced in the other Fallouts.”
Gone Fission is the 60th Fallout 76 update, though it’s technically the 23rd major content release. The update kicked off Season 21 (also named Gone Fission) and introduced fishing as a new gameplay mechanic. But one of the core objectives was to make the radioactive wastelands a little cozier.
“We felt that we wanted to do fishing for years,” Rush said, “but we were looking for the right time of year and the right place in the timeline. Coming up on summer, it seemed like a great summer update. There’s nothing more summer than heading out and going fishing, especially in the backwoods of Appalachia.”
Fallout 76’s continued success is due to the dedicated fan community, which Rush and LaCoste are well aware of.
“We’ve got one of the best, if not the best, community in all of gaming,” said LaCoste. “The players who engage with us on Discord and Reddit [are] amazing. We always listen to the things that they post and read the things that they post, and the things they tell us online to shape the future of [Fallout 76].”
Check out the video interview above to learn more about Fallout 76’s latest update. If you’re eager to sample the game yourself, Fallout 76: Gone Fission is out now on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
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