In Fallout 76, hackers had a spree some time ago, robbing players – without them being able to do anything against it. Bethesda promised to help the affected players back then. The assistance is now extremely generous.
What kind of attacks were they? In December 2019, just before Christmas, hackers managed to rob players. To do this, they only needed to be in sight of the players. No trade or interaction was necessary.
If the hackers had a player in sight, they could empty the entire inventory, including all weapons and armor the player had equipped. They could even steal the Pip-Boy, the most important item in the game.
This was only possible for a short time, as on December 23 the developers stopped the hack. However, by then many players had already been affected, and Bethesda promised support.
Generous compensation for players
Players report: Players who became victims of the hackers have now come forward. User JedediahJedi on reddit shared his feedback from customer service with others. In total, he received as compensation:
- a clone of his character with all stolen items
- 8,250 atoms (approximately 80€)
- assistance in transferring items to the original character
Other players also report a similar compensation. In the thread, other users state that they also received a clone with the items and atoms. However, the amount varies.
Those users who received fewer atoms instead got a few months of free access to Fallout 1st. Those who had already subscribed presumably received the atoms from 5 months of Fallout 1st. Those without a subscription received the atoms for 2-3 months and 3 months of free access.
This is what Bethesda says about it: To confirm what the players are reporting, we asked Bethesda about this issue. Our contact referred to a post in the official forum. It states:
At the end of December, some players were affected by inventory theft carried out with third-party software by cheaters. We resolved the issue with a hotfix on December 23 and imposed permanent bans on the accounts of the cheaters. However, some players are still missing their items, and we want to make that right.
The affected players should receive an email containing more detailed information, just like the players on reddit. Bethesda is evidently making a significant effort to improve its damaged reputation from the past time.
