In Fallout 76, reports suggest that hackers are currently causing chaos by stealing entire inventories, including equipped armor and weapons. They only need to be within range.
Update from December 24: A hotfix has been released that should render the hack unusable. Bethesda announced this in the official forum. The PC version was taken offline for a while to limit the damage. Anyone affected by the hack who lost items should submit a ticket to official support.
Original Report – What is this hack? The hack allows fraudsters to completely empty your inventory on PC. Everything you are carrying can be stolen from you.
Even the Pip Boy can disappear, as it is treated as an item in the game’s inventory. The Pip Boy is essentially the “menu” of the game, where you manage your character and the most important item in the game. Only caps and legendary modules, as well as items stored in vaults, seem to be safe.
Several people report that this has already happened to them. A low-level character got closer, and suddenly everything was gone. They didn’t even need to trade; it was enough just to be seen.
The hack appears to be occurring only on PC. There are no reports yet for the PS4 and Xbox One versions. The report on reddit comes from TonyQuark, a moderator of the Fallout 76 subreddit, and has already been spread in other subreddits. Some players have demonstrated in a video how to use the hack:
Players find unusual solutions
What can I do about it? The problem was only made known a few hours ago. An official solution has not yet been announced. However, we have requested a statement from Bethesda and are waiting for a response.
So far, players are advising other community members not to play their mains with good gear. However, they have already found their own ways to still spend time in Fallout 76 with various options:
- playing alternative characters (“twinks”) that they have been wanting to level for ages
- playing on private servers through Fallout 1st
- doing a few rounds in Battle Royale Nuclear Winter
Concerns in the Community
This is being discussed: For many in the community, the timing is extremely bad. Recently there was an issue with a bug that had been blown out of proportion by many users.
A hack that appeared shortly before this has also affected the game. Hackers were able to summon NPCs. The inventory hack casts a negative light on Fallout 76 once again.
It is also very unfortunate that new players are now directly confronted with something like this. Many who might have received Fallout 76 as a gift under the Christmas tree now have to deal with hackers if a fix does not come soon.
Some are wondering why players are still playing Fallout 76 despite its issues. In response, those same players have said that they simply enjoy the game, even with such problems.
They enjoy the friendly community and the opportunity to explore Appalachia. And when issues like this arise, they find alternative ways to play. Since it is a hack occurring on PC, many players may not even be affected. And despite these issues, Fallout 76 has a promising future:
