This one has been a long time coming.
Fallout 76 has enjoyed a few months of rampant popularity thanks to the wildfire success of the Fallout TV series. From April onwards, Fallout 76’s player count skyrocketed on all platforms, and the community blew up overnight. It also helps that Bethesda Game Studios has pumped the post-apocalyptic MMORPG full of content updates, which has helped to keep things fresh and keep players engaged.
In a recent effort by a dataminer, it was found that a future update could bring about a major update that Fallout 76 fans have been holding out for since 2021.
Never Go Alone
In 2021, Bethesda Game Studios laid out a bunch of plans regarding Fallout 76, and one of the items on that list was a companion mechanic that would allow players to run around with pets. It’s a common enough feature for MMORPGs, and even Fallout 76’s ‘sister MMO’, The Elder Scrolls Online, has a pet system – but they’re ‘non-combat’ pets.
Recently, Windows Central reported on a datamining claim from a user named SugarBombsRADS. In a Discord server dedicated to uncovering unreleased content in Fallout 76’s files, this user found an image related to pets. It was one of the iconic ‘tutorial’ style images from Fallout 76, the three-image banner that explains how something works in the game.
Here’s the shot:
While ‘Allies’ have existed in Fallout 76 for quite some time, they’re unable to leave a player’s C.A.M.P., which often leaves Vault Dwellers feeling lonesome in the harsh and unwelcoming wasteland. There’s a function that allows players to tame creatures so that they’ll walk around their C.A.M.P., but it’s more a cosmetic thing than anything else. The introduction of companions that can roam alongside users will be a game-changer, and the images suggest that it could go beyond just cats and dogs, with Vault Boy cuddling up to a Deathclaw.
It also seems that there will be interactions that the player can perform with their pet, treating them like Dogmeat in Fallout 4, for example. Can you imagine if you could assume control of a Scorchbeast or something and walk around with it by your side?
As with anything datamined, this content is unconfirmed and may never see the light of day, but it’s nice to know that after all this time, it’s potentially on the horizon.
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