Bethesda is betting that Fallout 76 fans are willing to pay extra for creature comforts — so much so that they’ll pay more than they did for the base game. The developer has launched a Fallout 1st subscription that offers a few exclusive conveniences and other perks for $100 per year, or $13 per month. Most notably, 1st members can create private worlds for them and up to seven other people. You don’t have to worry that a troublemaker will come in and ruin your experience, in other words. Friends can join these worlds without a subscription, so you don’t have to persuade your pals to sign up just to get some relative peace and quiet.
You’ll also get an unlimited-capacity Scrapbox for your crafting components and a Survival Tent that serves as a placeable fast travel point with basic amenities. If cosmetics are your thing, you’ll also get 1,650 Atoms per month to spend, a members-only armor outfit and a pack of exclusive emotes and icons. Any Atoms and Scrapbox resources you collect will still be available if you drop your subscription.
There’s some degree of value here when it costs money to host private servers. At the same time, this could easily rub some gamers the wrong way. Bethesda recently delayed its big free update, Wastelanders, to the first quarter of 2020 — it may feel like the company is prioritizing an additional revenue grab over improving a game whose reputation is less than sterling. Features like the Scrapbox and Survival Tent could theoretically have been added to the core game without much hassle, either. Fallout 1st may be appealing if you’re deeply invested in the shared-world RPG, but it could have a harder time attracting everyone else.
Author: Jon Fingas
Source: Engadget
