Bethesda Game Studios’ controversial 2018 title is now temporarily free to play as part of its fifth anniversary celebrations.

Fallout 76 is currently free to play on both PC and consoles. Bethesda launched this limited promotion to celebrate the game’s fifth anniversary.

Released in November 2018, Fallout 76 got off to a rather disappointing start, plagued by technical issues and hampered by the game’s general lack of content.

Despite a lacklustre debut, the developers spent the next half decade polishing the multiplayer shooter and releasing regular content. In addition, they made the game much more attractive to solo players. This continued support ultimately saved Fallout 76 and allowed it to maintain a healthy player community to this day.

The shooter is now free-to-play for the last full week of October 2023 on Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam. This sale is just the beginning of the game’s anniversary celebration, which began on October 23. This is otherwise known as Fallout Day, referring to the Great War that started on this day in the series’ history. Amazon Prime Gaming subscribers can also get a special Fallout 76 birthday pack in-game from yesterday until November 28. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can do the same starting Tuesday, October 24.

The free-to-play week overlaps with the start of the Spooky Scorched event. The latter lasts from today until November 7. During this period, Fallout 76 players can hunt costumed Scorched mobs. They’ll drop Spooky Treat Bags, Mystery Candy, legendary weapons, and armour. The Atomic Shop will offer a free Spooky Candy Bowl during the event. This item will serve as a repository for Spooky Scorched items. These can be enjoyed by other players visiting the camp. You can progress through various Halloween challenges and rewards by handing out candy with this container.

Bethesda also plans two Wasteland Classroom streams on October 25 and November 1 for new and returning players looking to brush up on their gameplay.

The developer will be giving away Fallout 76 Atoms during both Twitch streams. Anniversary challenges and rewards will be available in-game for two weeks until November 21.

Fallout 76’s actual fifth anniversary falls on November 14. On this day, the company will host another Twitch stream. It features a birthday parade with marchers and a generous Atom giveaway. These anniversary celebrations come at the culmination of Fallout 76’s 14th season, which began on August 22 and is scheduled to end on December 5.

Why should you try this Bethesda game right now?

At launch, things couldn’t have looked worse for Bethesda. Fallout 76 was panned and ridiculed by fans and critics alike. With a story that many considered boring and a shocking number of gameplay flaws, it was beyond me how it ever managed to grow up to the likes of Fallout: New Vegas. The road has been long and winding, but in 2022, Bethesda reported that Fallout 76 had been discovered by about 13.5 million players in Appalachia.

The massive improvement in player count is rooted in the Wastelanders update, just as Phantom Liberty brought Cyberpunk 2077 back from obscurity.

In addition to weeding out some mind-bending bugs, Wastelanders also took a year off from the events of its release. This moved away from the controversial PvP elements. By replacing the threat of multiplayer nuclear conflict with faction warfare, players could decide which faction deserved their support. All this resulted in a much more exciting gameplay. Also, the inclusion of NPCs in the update was a welcome development. Fans wanted more of a PvE experience than the disappointment of Fallout 76 at launch. The introduction of a New Vegas-like dialogue system with ability checks was the icing on the cake for the title. This was a departure from the radical changes to Fallout’s more traditional elements at launch.

Several quality-of-life improvements and game modes, such as Nuclear Winter and Daily Ops, gave Fallout 76 a different perspective. As a result, fans returned in droves to explore the title. Phantom Liberty’s impact on Cyberpunk 2077 cannot be understated, growing the game from around 20,000 concurrent players at its peak to hundreds of thousands. However, given Fallout 76’s distinctly bleak outlook and the radical changes it had to go through to regain relevance and respectability, the comeback story is more layered than V and the futuristic trials of the Edgerunners.

Source: Bethesda.net

Even if you don't already own #Fallout76, you can take part in the 5th Anniversary celebrations with our Free Play Week starting NOW!

Microsoft Store: https://t.co/Dld5qINtsK
Steam Store: https://t.co/V9t8qhA8iK
PlayStation Store: https://t.co/Xex29OcNlE pic.twitter.com/QrZR6AKCoa

— Fallout (@Fallout) October 23, 2023