Last weekend, more players than ever played Bethesda’s MMO Fallout 76 on Steam. And the other games in the series are also enjoying renewed popularity. After all, it is once again the talk of the town thanks to the Amazon series.
What is Fallout 76 all about? The MMO spin-off of the popular Fallout series was released in 2018 and received mixed reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the game currently has a score of 52, based on 49 reviews. The developers felt like the “villains of the internet.”
Users weren’t impressed either. The open world was completely empty at release, apart from other players. Over the years, Bethesda improved the game and marketed it – but the MMO just didn’t catch on.
However, last weekend, Fallout 76 was able to set a new record. There were more players than ever before exploring the wasteland of the online spin-off on Steam.
39,455 players just on Steam
What happened over the weekend? According to SteamDB, Fallout 76 achieved a record number of players over the weekend. A total of 39,455 people were playing the game simultaneously on Steam – the highest number ever.
The reason for the sudden increase seems to be obvious: Just two days before the weekend, the Fallout series from Amazon premiered.
It received good reviews and also convinced MeinMMO author Christoph Waldboth. Fans of the video game adaptation apparently also became interested in the post-apocalypse once again and quickly started Fallout 76.
This increase saw around 11,000 players on April 11 surge to over 39,000. A significant factor is likely that the game is currently free to play on Steam until April 18.
Anyone who wants to keep Fallout 76 permanently should check out Prime Gaming – it is currently available for free there as well.
Was only Fallout 76 played? Other titles in the Fallout series also benefited from the sudden popularity of the Amazon series. Fallout 4 had over 83,000 players over the weekend, compared to 24,000 the week before.
Fallout 3 saw an increase of about 1,000 players to 6,700. And even the original 2D games in the series are enjoying renewed popularity. Fallout 1 had 2,300 players online simultaneously, compared to fewer than 300 before.
Here you can see the player development of Fallout New Vegas, 4, and 76 (via SteamDB/x):
This shows that the hype surrounding another medium can also reignite enthusiasm for a video game. While Bethesda has struggled in recent years to attract more players to their MMO, it was ultimately a series that made that happen.
Did you watch the series and are now checking out Fallout 76? Were you already there over the weekend? Let us know in the comments. Fallout 4 will soon look prettier – thanks to a new update.
