Fallout 76 is based on plans for Fallout 4 multiplayer

Bethesda considered adding multiplayer to Fallout 4 but put the idea on hold to prioritize its singleplayer story, Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard explained in a new Noclip documentary. However, Bethesda eventually revisited Fallout 4's would-be multiplayer and turned it into Fallout 76, which we now know to be an online survival game.

"Fallout 76 is the multiplayer design from Fallout 4," Howard said. While developing Fallout 4, Bethesda wondered: "Hey, should we do multiplayer? 'Probably not.' What would it be? 'OK, it would be this.' Let's talk it through. 'OK, that's pretty awesome.'" 

But at the time, the team decided to stick with its singleplayer focus: "Then we put it away, you know, let's do our thing," Howard said. "Then every once in a while we'd keep talking about it. 'We should've done that, we should do it.' And as Fallout 4's going on, it becomes 'no, we should really do it as its own thing.'"

As journalist and narrator Danny O'Dwyer explained in the documentary, Bethesda was experimenting with multiplayer Fallout as early as 2013. However, the studio didn't have many people experienced with multiplayer development. That changed when Zenimax, Bethesda's parent company, opened a new studio in Austin, Texas—Battlecry Studios, which was recently rebranded as Bethesda Game Studios Austin. 

Battlecry brought MMO experts like Chris Mayer (Ultima Online, Star Wars: Galaxies) and Doug Mellencamp (Star Wars: The Old Republic), people who had the knowledge and contacts necessary to build a multiplayer Fallout. In fact, Howard said, "they started it before we shipped Fallout 4." 

You can watch the full Noclip documentary here. For more on Fallout 76, check out our round-up of everything we know, from its setting to the rules of its multiplayer. 

TOPICS
Austin Wood
Staff writer, GamesRadar

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.

Latest in Fallout
Ghoul in sunglasses
I'm convinced being a ghoul in Fallout 76 is the best way to vibe in West Virginia, thanks to these powerful perk cards and my new true love: Radiation
Fallout 76 ghoul screenshots
Getting to level 50 in Fallout 76 to become a ghoul actually isn't as daunting as it seems, which is why I created a new character
Scorched person with their hands on their head
Ghoul players in Fallout 76 are starting to place their camps in the most radioactive areas of the map, and regular humans aren't happy: 'I had to inject 30+ radaway into my veins'
Fallout 76 ghoul screenshots
How to become a ghoul in Fallout 76
Ghoul in sunglasses
Some Fallout 76 players have encountered a 'major game-breaking bug' which either makes it impossible to complete the ghoul quest or just makes you temporarily invisible
A ghoul player character standing next to another ghoul
'You are hereby conscripted': Fallout 76 players demand newly-transformed ghoul players help them mine radioactive ore
Latest in News
Collection of products to illustrate potential Amazon Prime Day deals
I'm collecting the best Amazon Spring Prime Day PC gaming deals like a bargain-hunting treasure goblin
A screenshot from SaGa Frontier 2, showing one of the protagonists wandering through a quaint fantasy village
One of Square Enix' most underrated PlayStation-era JRPGs just shadow dropped on Steam
The titular character from Princess Mononoke is depicted riding the wolf goddess Moro and carrying a spear.
Studio Ghibli AI image trend floods social media, cheered on by OpenAI and denounced by critics as an insult to Hayao Miyazaki
Marvel Rivals tier list - Wolverine
Marvel Rivals director says a future patch will reduce the shooter's insatiable hunger for RAM: 'It's a very big problem'
Hogwarts Legacy potions professor holding a potion
An unannounced Hogwarts Legacy expansion and 'definitive edition' have reportedly been cancelled
Story of Seasons - A cahacter in a purple tuxedo stands outside in a town square talking to the player
Story of Seasons is doing another Harvest Moon remake and it might be the best the series has ever looked