O
riginallyreleasedin2018,Fallout 76 hasbeenthe
sourceofmuchderision.TheFalloutgamesare
fundamentallyabouthumaninteractions.Players
have to chat,tradeandoftenfightwithothersurvivorsofa
Nuclear apocalypse,exploringandbuildingrelationships
with communitiesbuiltfromtheashesoftheoldworld.
When itlaunched,Fallout 76 hadnoneofthis.Itsmassive
virtual renditionofAppalachiahadnonon-playercharacters
whatsoever.Saveforaudiologsleftbehindbyprevious
inhabitants,andtheoccasionalencounterwithotherplayers,
it was devoidofhumanity.Bethesdahadcreateda wasteland
in a very literalsense– a stunninglandscape
completelywastedona rubbishgame.
With therecentWastelandersupdate,
however,Fallout 76 nowfeelsmuchcloser
aligned toBethesda’searlierFalloutgames.
It introducesmultipleNPCcommunities,
alongsidedozensofnew,human-centric
quests and a new campaignstoryline,allofwhichhasbeen
carefully weaved into theexistingtemplate.
It’s an impressive turnaround,butFallout 76 isn’tthe
only big game that’s shownsignificantimprovementafter
a rocky launch. Rare’s open-oceanpirateadventureSeaof
Thieves launched in a similarlybarrenstatein2017,offering
fun cooperative ship sailingbutlittlemeaningfulcontent.
Since then, Rare has offeredregularcontentupdatesthathave
gradually built up the gameintoa richerexperience.Likewise,
No Man’s Sky’s disappointinglaunchhasbeencompletely
turned around by developerHelloGames,transformingit
from an interstellar walkingsimulatorintoMinecraftinspace.
Alltheseimprovementsareadmirable,andthedevelopers
shouldbeapplaudedfortheirhardwork,butit’salso worth
consideringtheprecedentthesegamesset.Gamingis already
ata pointwherethedefinitionofa ‘finished’game is fuzzy.
Earlyaccessdevelopmenthasdrasticallyerodedtheboundary
betweenin-developmentprojectsandreleasedgames, and
onlineservicemodelshaveblurredthatlinefurther.
There’snothingwrongwiththisdevelopmentmodel as
longasbothsidesunderstandthebargainbeingset. Players
knowthey’repayingfora gamethat’snotnecessarily finished
(andsometimes,mayneverbefinished),anddevelopers
understandanexpectationhasbeen set to
doalltheycantoshipa completeproduct.
ButNoMan’sSky,SeaofThieves,and Fallout
76 muddlethisunderstanding,launching as
full-price,‘complete’experiences,which have
thenessentiallytransitionedintoan early
access-styleservicemodel.
Whetherthisstrategywasdeliberate or accidental, it looks
highlydeceptivefromtheoutside. Also, such development
practicescouldeasilybenormalised if allowed to go
unscrutinised.Gamesarebecoming bigger and more expensive
tomake,andonewaytobetterguarantee profits from a
projectistotestthewaters,launching a high-price game
withlimitedfeaturesasa waytogauge interest, then adding
thosefeaturesfurtherdownlineif the game proves profitable.
Transparencyisbecomingevermore crucial in game
development.Thewaydevelopers choose to make a game
is uptothem,butthecircumstances must be communicated
effectivelytothepeoplebuyingthe games.Games
Rick Lane is Custom PC’s games editor @Rick_LaneRICKLANE/INVERSELOOK
PIECEMEAL GAMES
Fallout 76 now feels like a proper game, but Rick Lane asks if big-budget
developers should be encouraged to launch games before they’re readyWhether this was
deliberate or accidental,
it looks highly deceptive