In Fallout 76, Bethesda introduced a subscription model yesterday that is currently being heavily discussed online. Our author Schuhmann asks: Is it about the game or the principle?
What is the core of the problem? Fallout 76 announced the feature of private servers a long time ago.
This is a feature that somehow belongs to a “sandbox survival” game: People set up their own servers, play with their friends, according to their own rules.
This feature has been vague for a long time – now it is supposed to come, but within the framework of a subscription model.
Bethesda wants €15 a month or €120 a year for a subscription that promises private servers and several other gimmicks. Only the host of the private server needs such a subscription, his friends can join for free.
Big outrage over Bethesda’s “greed”
What is the reaction? As one could have expected, the reaction is disastrous.
There is an angry comment under the tweet that has received three times as many “likes” as the actual tweet.
In forums like reddit , people are angry about Bethesda’s behavior. The price is considered “too high”. There are many expressions of anger towards Bethesda.
People accuse Bethesda of “greed”. It used to be such a great company, back during Fallout 4, but now it has become so bad.
Fallout players say: They expected to have private servers like in Minecraft or Conan Exiles, where it’s easy to set up a server to play with friends. Now they’re shocked by the price.
Fallout 76 under scrutiny by Skyrim fans from the start
What stands out: Every time there is trouble with Fallout 76, the outrage is not only within the “small circle of fans of the game” but is always also on the large public stage of gaming. This can be wonderfully observed: Every shitstorm about Fallout 76 automatically ends up at reddit/Games or resetera at the top, where general game discussions take place.
The question that arises here is:
- Are only the active players of Fallout 76 really getting upset about Bethesda? Fallout 76 is a relatively small game, but is truly loved by its active players.
- Or is the “gaming internet” additionally upset: People who liked Skyrim, who liked the single-player Fallout games – is some of the anger coming from them?
Because it seems that the shitstorm is larger than the actual player base.
It has been noticeable since the introduction of Fallout 76: The outrage about the game seems disproportionately large. It always exceeds the player base.
Errors in Fallout 76 always bring mockery and scorn upon Bethesda. This was already shown by the drama over the “canvas bag of evil.”
Many expressions now have nothing to do with Fallout 76 itself, but show that people want to draw general boundaries about what a publisher can and cannot do.
People are not worried about Fallout 76 and how it will continue, but about how The Elder Scrolls 6 might turn out – how gaming as a whole is changing.
Bethesda is known as the forge for single-player epics like Fallout or The Elder Scrolls Skyrim. Fallout 76 has always had a hard time as a “multiplayer” game.
Good Gaming – Bad Gaming
Therefore, gaming fans are closely watching how Fallout 76 develops and how it will be monetized. This seems to be a game for which many outsiders want to draw a clear line.
There is often talk of “greed” or “greed like a mobile game.” This takes on ideological aspects, contrasting “good single-player gaming” with the purchase model (Skyrim) and “bad multiplayer gaming” with microtransactions and additional costs (Fallout 76).
It’s a difficult situation for Bethesda because many emotional factors come into play that genuinely upset players.
Especially since a game titled “The Outer Worlds” which is inspired by Fallout, and fits into the pattern of “good gaming” is coming out.
