Fallout 76 is the first-ever multiplayer-only game in the Fallout series, boasting all the core elements of the franchise fused with an MMORPG operating model. It was released in 2018 to a disappointing reception, but over the next few years, it would become a solid game following countless updates from Bethesda Game Studios. There’s one question that plagues the mind of those looking to invest in the game, though: Is Fallout 76 crossplay compatible?
For the longest time, fans of the Fallout franchise wanted a cooperative experience in their games. When Fallout 76 came around, they quickly found that it wasn’t the game they’d been dreaming of, but over time, it became something close to it. It took plenty of updates, but it’s estimated that by today, Fallout 76 boasts more 21 million players. But with that in mind, is Fallout 76 cross-platform? Does this multiplayer epic boast one of the most popular features in modern gaming?
Let’s find out.
Image Credit: Bethesda Game Studios
Before we tackle how Fallout 76 can be played, let’s address the elephant in the room. For years, both fans and critics of Fallout 76 have been at each others’ throats, debating whether or not Fallout 76 is a good game. In 2018, when the game was released, it suffered immeasurably at the hands of the Fallout community. As a game, Fallout 76 boasted an empty, lonely world, devoid of any meaningful AI presence. It had very little in the way of a story, it was buggy, and the roadmap was near inexistent.
If we fast-forward to today, Fallout 76 has been updated and expanded countless times. The developer, Bethesda Game Studios, has fleshed out the MMORPG platform with several storylines, thriving settlements, a season structure, and many fixes that have made the game much more stable. It’s an enjoyable game in itself, even if the community still doesn’t believe it’s a good Fallout game.
As Fallout 5 is likely many years away from being released, Fallout 76 is, ultimately, all the community has. Fortunately, there’s a dense roadmap that always exists at the heart of Fallout 76, with Bethesda Game Studios intending to keep the game alive for many years to come – at least until Fallout 5 comes around.
Sadly, Fallout 76 is not crossplay. That means that if your friend is playing the game on PC and you want to join them on your PlayStation 5 copy of the game, you’ll find yourself out of luck – it just can’t happen. There are no Fallout 76 cross-platform mechanics, and even cross-progression is off the table. It’s quite restricted and it has led to many millions of players calling out for the feature for years. It seems like such an easy thing to include in a game these days, after all.
But what’s the meaning of crossplay, and why is it so important? In modern gaming, ‘crossplay’ mechanics allow you to connect, interface, and play with gamers on other platforms – Xbox with PlayStation, for example.
For the vast majority of the Fallout 76 audience, crossplay mechanics sit at the top of their wishlist. It would make the community seamless and eradicate any borders that exist, bringing together players across all the platforms that Fallout has been released on. That’s how cross-platform games work, and it’s why it’s such an in-demand feature for Fallout 76 players.
Will Fallout 76 ever be cross-platform? There’s no knowing what the future holds, but at present, it doesn’t look likely.
There’s a lengthy list out there, and some of the best crossplay games can be considered similar to Fallout 76. For example, in Rust’s multiplayer-only survival game, crossplay is available, if somewhat limited. If you’d like to run around an open world with your friends and fight dinosaurs, Ark is crossplay to some extent. There are alternatives out there, but if you’re looking for a multiplayer, post-apocalyptic adventure, Fallout 76 is almost in a league of its own.
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