Bethesda Game Studios has announced Fallout 76 is dropping its battle royale mode this September, a big focus of the game since its launch in 2018.
The reasoning behind closing down the game’s Nuclear Winter battle royale mode is due to a lack of player interest over time, as players seemingly prefer to play the other game modes in the semi-online open-world action game.
Here’s the full statement from Bethesda confirming Fallout 76 is dropping its battle royale mode:
As a development team, we view Fallout 76 as a game that is continually evolving with each update we release. We love adding new ways for you to enjoy Appalachia, whether through questlines, events, Daily Ops, new features, quality of life improvements, or even gameplay modes.
When we first introduced Nuclear Winter, we were thrilled to watch so many players from our community, as well as many newcomers, dive head first into our take on the ruthless last-player-standing Battle Royale genre. Over time, however, we’ve seen the vast majority of players prefer to explore other aspects of the game. 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. With all of this in mind, we are currently planning to sunset Nuclear Winter Mode in an update coming this September.
We know that some of you are incredibly passionate about Nuclear Winter, and that you may find this news disappointing. Ending support for the mode was a difficult decision, and not one that we made lightly. We’re still working to provide methods of PVP combat for those who enjoy squaring off against other former Vault Dwellers, and a little later this year, we will release details on how we plan to offer players even more ways to play Fallout 76. Additionally, we’re going to compensate everyone who participated in Nuclear Winter, from those who only joined a single match to our most battle-hardened Overseers.
GET PERK COINS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION
Whether you occasionally dabbled in Nuclear Winter, or fought your way through thousands of matches, we want to ensure that your efforts there are properly rewarded. When Nuclear Winter goes offline, we’re going to fill your characters’ pockets with Perk Coins, which can be used to upgrade your Legendary Perks in Adventure Mode. Each character will receive 6 Perk Coins per Overseer Rank they achieved, up to a maximum of 600, as well as 1 Perk Coin for each Overseer Ticket they earned, up to a max of 200. All players who completed at least one Nuclear Winter match will also receive a Nuclear Winter themed Pennant for their C.A.M.P.s.
EARN NUCLEAR WINTER REWARDS IN ADVENTURE MODE
Nuclear Winter offers a wide variety of Overseer rank-up rewards, and we’d like to ensure that you can still unlock them through other means. Some items, like the Vault Boy statues, will remain exclusive to those who earned them. Others, such as Power Armor and weapon paints, outfits, C.A.M.P. objects, and more will be awarded by completing events, including Scorched Earth, Project Paradise, Encryptid, A Colossal Problem, and even Hunt for the Treasure Hunter.
We would like to thank everyone in the community who spent time competing in Nuclear Winter. It will remain online until September, which means you still have plenty of time to squeeze in some more matches. While we have decided to disable this mode, Fallout 76’s future remains very bright. We can’t wait to share more details with you on all of the new features and adventures we’re planning to bring to the game throughout 2021, and for years to come.
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.
