Bethesda project lead Jeff Gardiner has confirmed during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) that Bethesda is “looking to” add pets to Fallout 76.

The AMA featured Gardiner, and Lead Designer Ferret Baudoin, asking questions from fans about the recent Wastelanders update to the game.

One Reddit user (“AzarianCouncil”) asked “Are pets coming soon?” Gardiner replied “Edible ones? I kid. Now that we have our companions system in the game, we are looking to add pets as well.” 

While others asked if these pets would be part of player bases, or how the current creature taming system would be affected by it, neither Gardiner or Baudoin replied to those inquiries.

Past Fallout games have offered a dog as a companion by the name of Dogmeat. As the NPC will align with players irrelevant of their karma level (in addition to it appearing in numerous games) has made Dogmeat popular with fans. The character has also been featured numerous “best sidekick” discussions and votes [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

The move may be rather ambitious, after some recently added NPCs (thanks the Wastelanders update) began looting dead player’s weapons. This was made worse by them being unable to be killed (only “downed”), meaning players could not loot their weapons back. Bethesda’s Associate Community Manager stated “We will investigate this immediately.”

It is also worth pointing out that Bethesda are only “looking to” add pets. During production, this idea may be scrapped. Development is surely hindered by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Wastelanders update was delayed due to the pandemic, along with the cancellation of Quakecon 2020, and Bethesda announced they would not host a showcase in June as a supplement to the cancelled E3 2020.

Fallout 76 is now available for Windows PC (via Bethesda, and Steam), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. In case you missed it, you can find our review for the game here.

Image: Fallout 4, Steam