Fallout 76 Will Lose Its Battle Royale Mode In September

It's back to the vault for one failed Fallout idea, with the divisive Fallout 76 is losing its short-lived battle royale mode. As the likes of Epic Games and Activision coin it with Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone, not every battle royale brainwave pays off. 

While the Fallout games have made big bucks over the years as a largely single-player franchise, the release of Fallout 76 in 2018 promised something different. Although taking place at the very start of the Fallout timeline gave 76 a unique premise, there were a few raised eyebrows when Bethesda confirmed there wouldn't be a standard single-player campaign (more on that later).

Bethesda has since tried to repair the damage done to Fallout 76, and even though it looks determined to keep updating the game in the future, the Nuclear Winter battle royale mode has been given the chop.

Why is Fallout 76 going to lose its battle royale mode?

Posting in an official Fallout blog, Bethesda confirmed Nuclear Winter is about to thaw. "Over time, we’ve seen the vast majority of players prefer to explore other aspects of the game", said Bethesda. "It has also become tougher to put full Nuclear Winter lobbies together without also making sacrifices on match wait times. Additionally, we’ve found it challenging to provide meaningful updates for Nuclear Winter, while also developing and supporting exciting new content for Adventure Mode in recent and upcoming updates". 

So, it looks like it's adios to the free-to-play battle royale add-on in September. There are still those that quite enjoyed Nuclear Winter, and if you've played a few matches, you'll be rewarded for your troubles. As we get ready to wave goodbye to Fallout 76's battle royale potential, Bethesda explained you'll be rewarded six in-game currency Perk Coins for every Overseer Rank you've earned - as well as an additional Perk Coin for every win you've scored. If that wasn't enough, there's a Nuclear Winter pennant that you'll be able to add to your C.A.M.P.

What's next for Fallout 76?

We suspect a big reason behind Nuclear Winter's axe will be long queue times. These days, it's hard enough to get people to play Fallout 76, let alone finding another 51 players to hop into a battle royale match. As the player base continues to dwindle, it could be a case of asking the last one out to close the door.

Even if you're disappointed Nuclear Winter has been nuked, rest assured that Bethesda isn't abandoning the battlefield just yet. The blog post concluded by promising something a "little later this year". Bethesda added, "We will release details on how we plan to offer players even more ways to play Fallout 76”. Is this the dawn of a new season or is Fallout 76 destined to plod out into the desert to die of radiation poisoning? 

We previously mentioned the lack of single-player, which led to the massive Watelanders update in April 2020. Adding traditional NPCs to the apocalypse, Fallout 76 finally felt like a proper Fallout game. The team has continued to tweak things since then, but with players looking ahead to the likes of Starfield and the mythical release of Fallout 5, it remains to be seen whether Fallout 76 can cast off its tarnished image.

Images via Bethesda