Bethesda Game Studios and Fallout 76 Add Bizarre Subscription Model

Drew Taylor |

Oct 23, 2019

Bethesda’s Fallout 76 is considered by gamers to be one of the biggest busts of all time.

The effort to keep that reputation was reinforced, as Bethesda announced a new subscription model for the game. For just $12.99 USD a month, or $100 USD a year, you can support the legend. The new model is called Fallout 1st.

We’re launching a new service today – Fallout 1st. No matter how you play #Fallout76, it has something for everyone. https://t.co/xNk5lHKqpv pic.twitter.com/Dvu7qZ6Zco

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) October 23, 2019

Keep in mind that the game has not gone free to play. The base game still retails anywhere from $24 t0 $40 USD in most major retail outlets.

What do you get for your Fallout 1st subscription?

Subscribers get private server access, exclusive items including a “survival tent” that players can use as a make-shift base and fast travel point, and some unique outfits and emotes.

The subscription also provides 1,650 Atoms a month. Atoms are in-game currency used for microtransactions, and can be purchased in bulk increments from Bethesda for real money.

Author and content creator Joseph Anderson, explains it well in this tweet:

Fallout 76 is now offering a monthly MMO-style subscription fee in return for the stuff listed below.

12.99 USD.

It is amazing that after everything that’s happened with this game that they’re still topping it. This is the worst thing they’ve done so far. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/zEsEEpbfEF

— Joseph Anderson (@jph_anderson) October 23, 2019

Fallout 76 has been plagued with issues since day one. Repeated broken promises about game features, unfixed bugs, poor graphics, and a tone deaf stance regarding player concerns have eroded trust in Bethesda.

If that wasn’t enough, exclusive Fallout merchandise offered for sale to fans has either proven defective, hazardous, or sometimes just not delivered at all.

With the reputation that the game has, and the public image issue among gamers that Bethesda has, this announcement is inexplicable.

If Fallout 76 had gone free to play, this model would be somewhat understandable.

If Bethesda had taken steps to earn back the droves of disappointed gamers who rightly quit playing, it might’ve worked.

The reality is, those things likely will never happen. That fact alone makes this subscription model terrible.

Fans will say, this is a final money grab. Hard to argue that, considering all that’s happened in this title’s sordid past.

Here’s what some fans and players have to say about the announcement:

Do you bloody geniuses remember a game called Star wars battlefront 2 & do you remember every gaming community under the face of the Earth came after their asses & do you want that to happen to you guys @bethesda @Fallout this is the bloody straw that broke the camel’s back

— Jed Skellington (@JedTesdToad) October 23, 2019

pic.twitter.com/Nr3EBUqVMi

— Josh (@LiquidTitan) October 23, 2019

pic.twitter.com/9oVg4atZUo

— Tony Drake (@Juggaloopy) October 23, 2019

@bethesda @Fallout #BoycottBethesda #fallout76
since you guys at Bethesda don’t give a shit about your community no more & have lied to our faces one more time.This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. So my $ is going to @OuterWorlds & others that do Care

— Jed Skellington (@JedTesdToad) October 23, 2019