Fallout 76 has now been on the market for almost six years, and by all accounts, it has been a great success for Bethesda Game Studios. It launched in a terrible condition and quickly became known as one of the biggest failures in gaming history, but thanks to years of dedicated support and constant expansions and updates by BGS, Fallout 76 is now something well worth playing – especially if you’re a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre.
Recently, Bethesda revealed a major change coming to Fallout 76. Since June 2020, Bethesda has rolled out a series of seasons that have been accompanied by a ‘Scoreboard’, a free-to-access unlock path that rewards users for completing in-game challenges. Now, after a whopping 15 seasons, Bethesda is retiring the Scoreboard mechanic and replacing it with paid-for season passes.
That’s Not Going Down Well
Since The Legendary Run debuted on June 30th, 2020, players have enjoyed each iterative season. They’re always themed, and Fallout fans the world over have soaked up alien invasions, futuristic campaigns, ‘Nuka Cola’ branded content, and patriotic pathways. Unlike other multiplayer games, Fallout 76 always boasted free content paths, and each new season allowed the player to unlock boatloads of cosmetics, utilities, recipes, and crafting components without paying a penny.
It evolved somewhat several months ago, with Bethesda Game Studios making some content exclusively accessible to Fallout 1st members. That’s the paid ‘premium’ subscription that offers a bounty of benefits – if you’re willing to pay monthly.
Now, Bethesda Game Studios will sunset the Scoreboard system, introducing a season pass structure that will require players to purchase a new pass every season. It’ll cost 1500 ‘Atoms’, which is the game’s virtual currency. That’s about $14.99 in real money – but Fallout 1st members get every season pass included with their subscription, of course.
Each new season will be accompanied by a series of ‘Season Pages’ which are bursting with rewards. Each reward has a ‘ticket’ cost, and these tickets are unlocked by completing challenges, which is what users have been doing for years anyway. The difference here is that the rewards can be unlocked dynamically, giving players the freedom to choose what they want to acquire – but the tickets expire when a season is over.
It all begins with the next season – Duel with the Devil – which kicks off on March 26 on all platforms.
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Whelp. I’m done then. No way I am paying what for four years was given freely. I’ll still play, but I am done giving Bethesda more money.