Fallout 76 Development Time: Challenges and Controversies

Introduction

Fallout 76, released in 2018, marked Bethesda Game Studios' first foray into the multiplayer genre. Despite its ambitious goals, the game's development was marred by numerous challenges and controversies. This article explores the timeline and complexities of Fallout 76's development, highlighting the struggles faced by the team and the impact on the final product.

Development Timeline

Development on Fallout 76 began as early as 2013, during the production of Fallout 4. Initially, the concept was set aside due to its scope, but it was revisited after Fallout 4's release in November 2015. Bethesda collaborated with BattleCry Studios, leveraging their experience in large-scale multiplayer games. The project aimed to fill the gap between Bethesda's major single-player releases, including the upcoming Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI.

Challenges with the Creation Engine

Fallout 76 used a modified version of Bethesda's Creation Engine, which had been primarily designed for single-player games. This engine proved difficult to adapt for multiplayer, as it was based on code from older games. The engine's limitations meant that areas not currently loaded by a player would not exist, posing significant challenges for a game requiring persistent environments. To overcome these issues, the team implemented netcode from older games, but the engine remained poorly optimized, leading to frequent glitches and technical issues.

Throughout its development, one of the key challenges faced by the team working on Fallout 76 was managing and balancing the various Fallout 76 items within the game. These items, ranging from equipment to consumables, were crucial to the gameplay experience but posed significant logistical challenges due to the game's vast open world and multiplayer nature. Managing the balance, distribution, and interactions of these items required extensive testing and tweaking, adding to the overall complexity of the development process.

Crunch Time and Morale

The development process was marked by a grueling crunch schedule. Testers and developers often worked long hours, sometimes exceeding 60 hours per week, under significant pressure to meet tight deadlines. This intense workload took a toll on team morale, particularly among developers who had joined Bethesda to work on single-player RPGs but were reassigned to Fallout 76. The lack of clear vision for the game and the restrictive crunch environment contributed to a high turnover of staff and low morale among remaining team members.

Design and Testing Issues

Designers raised concerns about multiplayer stability, griefing, and quest checkpointing, but these issues were often dismissed or postponed by management. The game's testing process was also criticized for being inadequate, with QA testers facing strict limitations on interacting directly with developers to address bugs. Despite extensive testing, many major bugs were known before launch but remained unresolved due to time constraints.

Release and Reception

Fallout 76 was released to mixed reviews, with criticism focusing on its technical issues, design flaws, and lack of human non-playable characters (NPCs) at launch. The game's reception improved somewhat with the introduction of human NPCs in the Wastelanders update in April 2020. Despite initial controversies, the game has seen an increase in player count over time, particularly following the release of related media.

Conclusion

The development of Fallout 76 was a complex and challenging process, marked by technical difficulties, crunch time, and morale issues. Despite these hurdles, Bethesda continued to support the game post-launch, addressing some of the initial criticisms. The lessons learned from Fallout 76's development will likely influence future projects, including the highly anticipated Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI.