In 2018, Fallout 76 was released and promptly became something of a laughing stock, drawing intense criticism from the wider gaming community on account of it being lifeless, devoid of any real point, and feeling nothing like folks had come to expect from a Fallout game.
It was also lambasted because of a manufacturing blunder that made the game’s $300 collector’s edition a failure. In a recent interview, one of Bethesda Game Studios’ longest-serving executives (now retired) revealed that he was furious with the collector’s edition, which he didn’t see until the day it arrived at his house.
‘The Dumbest Thing I Ever Did’
The $300 ‘Power Armor’ Edition of Fallout 76 was poised to be a hit, delivering players a wearable replica of an iconic helmet, a luxury canvas bag, the base game, and a bunch of other items. What was ultimately received by the franchise’s biggest fans was not that.
The canvas bag, which was styled in marketing imagery as something you’d want to own, arrived and turned out to be a nylon representative that felt cheap and tacky.
It was one of the biggest controversies tied to Bethesda Game Studios that rankles with fans to this day, and it was exacerbated by Bethesda trying to rectify the situation by offering users a measly $5 in in-game credits as compensation.
Pete Hines, a former 24-year veteran of Bethesda Game Studios and diehard Fallout fan, revealed that he was just as up in arms over the collector’s edition of Fallout 76 as the fans:
My first reaction was, ‘When the f**k did we add a canvas bag to this collector’s edition?’ Because the version I approved did not have one.
They were trying to add more value to the Collectors Edition. We were always fighting with the finance people about margins, right? I would throw shit fits around. ‘We cannot charge $300 for this, it’s f***ing insulting.’
But in this case, their hearts were in the right place. There was literally a canvas shortage, and some folks decided we’re going to do this instead. My biggest failing there was not pushing immediately for making and sending one to everybody that wants one. Because I was still annoyed that the damn thing was in there in the first place, and nobody had told me and that this canvas shortage happened.
It’s probably the dumbest thing I ever did at Bethesda.
In the interview, which was conducted by DBLTAP, Hines revealed that he didn’t even realize what had happened until his collector’s edition turned up at his home. This veteran Bethesda executive was in the same boat as players worldwide, but it’s highly unlikely he paid $300 for his edition.
Did you buy the Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition in 2018? Do you still have that nylon bag? Let me know on the Insider Gaming forum.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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