🔗 Share this article

This marks the 64th major content addition since its debut, Fallout 76 is preparing to introduce its biggest expansion yet this December. Named the new expansion, this comprehensive update will bring fresh armaments, expanded storylines, and guide players to the previously unexplored region of the Ohio wasteland.

A Notable Transformation

There once was, the concept of this online Fallout experience getting such a significant update seven years after debut would have been considered impossible. When the multiplayer game initially debuted in 2018, it faced criticism from reviewers and players who considered the release version unpolished and conceptually incomplete. Many believed it would suffer the same fate as other live-service ventures of that time.

We have continuously had faith in this game, explained the creative director. The debut was kind of like the beginning of our journey. People come out and they don't see much content, and they learn about their world. Our approach was simply staying focused and continuing to develop the content that we are confident our fans will appreciate, and that we personally enjoy.

Discovering New Territory

Burning Springs represents the most substantial expansion to date. The primary element is the map expansion, allowing players to venture outside into Ohio and explore what developments have unfolded there. Fair warning: Trouble awaits!

The designers explained that exploring a new state after considerable duration in Appalachia presented an ideal situation to experiment with an untouched location within the Fallout universe.

We hadn't extensively covered this region in the established canon extensively, explained the creative director. Starting from the existing territory, if you travel east, you begin entering the Washington DC area. We've explored thoroughly developed. Ohio hasn't really been touched on too much. Therefore, this installment being set earliest in the timeline offers us multiple creative opportunities. We decided to explore what's occurring in Ohio!

Drawing Inspiration from Previous Games

What immediately catches attention about the game's depiction of Ohio is that it's developed as a dry environment. This might seem unusual given the actual geography of Ohio, but there's a intentional explanation for this design decision: The visual style was directly influenced by the Capital Wasteland and the Mojave Desert.

Rather than directly replicating aspects from classic installments, the development team concentrated on representing the core feeling of those experiences within Burning Springs.

It wasn't so much about studying those installments and saying we want particular aspects, stated the development lead. What we wanted to achieve was adopting the distinct tone of those previous titles and having that accurately reflected in Burning Springs. The direction I communicated to the designers when we began working on the new region was: It requires dry regions, dangerous monsters, and plenty of enemies. In my view, that represents what Fallout 3 and the Vegas title represent. Those are the fundamental aspects that create the characteristic feel of those titles, and so I aimed to have that recreated here.

Television Series Incorporation

The popularity of the Fallout television series created a substantial rise in player numbers for Fallout 76, with accounts indicating a six or seven engagement boost. The creators recognized they needed to leverage this circumstance, but lacked the necessary time to execute a full crossover instantly.

The method came through natural progression when the team discovered the ideal link with Walton Goggins' character, who serves as a quest giving NPC within the new expansion.

We were establishing what this additional area would feature, what the overall tone would be, and then what the signature element of the fresh territory would become, that's contract missions, stated the creative director. What person more appropriate to represent these missions than The Ghoul? Since he is a enthusiastic player of the games too, he was extremely enthusiastic to partner with us and complete this project. So it wasn't planned from the beginning, but it developed through natural progression of the content.

Coming Updates

Burning Springs doesn't represent the concluding content addition for the multiplayer experience. The development team is already working on the first substantial future expansion and organizing more expansions extending as far as the 72nd update.

There was a period where we never thought there would actually happen an seventy-sixth expansion, stated the development lead. Now we're at a phase where the situation is so great, for both the television series and the game. It's actually quite remarkable to contemplate that there's an that milestone that will then coincide with, as you might imagine, future developments!

Persistent engagement of Fallout 76 serves as a testament to the studio's commitment and steady approach to expanding upon their initial idea while naturally including new elements that enrich rather than compromise the existing universe.