Bethesda is busy. To think, ten years ago all they really had was the Elder Scrolls series. This year's conference showed off a ton of new games and updates.
Rage 2
This one looks like a hoot. I loved Rage but the open-world part didn't exactly land. The gunplay was near perfect but it left some to be desired. This time, id is partnering with Avalanche (of Just Cause fame) to bring something special and the trailer and gameplay look like exactly what I was hoping for.
Elder Scrolls Legends and Elder Scrolls Online updates
These games seem to be doing really well for Bethesda. They spent some time talking about some new updates. I'm just gonna be straight up honest here, I went to the fridge and the bathroom for these because it's not my bag really.
Doom Eternal
We don't have a ton of info on this but we're getting another Doom game soon. Twice as many monster types, Hell on Earth. It sounds great and I can't wait to hear more.
Quake Champions
This one is still in early access but it'll be free to play when it releases. You can buy it now (or at launch) to unlock all the playable characters. If you download it this week you can keep playing it Free to Play throughout early access.
Prey Updates
I was a bit surprised to see updates to this but it has some neat new modes coming. One that's a king of randomized simulation roguelike and one that's multiplayer with five people. One human, four mimics, playing hide and seek. This sounds fun and hilarious and terrifying.
Wolfenstein Young Blood
A new Wolfenstein game is coming soon where you play solo or with a friend as B.J.'s twin daughters in the 80s. This brings the game to a potentially very new setting. I'm looking forward to this. Machine Games thanked us for supporting their mission of killing all Nazis and the "Fuck Nazis" narrative got a lot of applause from the crowd and my living room.
Skyrim on Amazon Echo
This was a joke skit starting Keegan Michael Key from Key and Peele. The game obviously isn't coming to Echo but it was a pretty funny take on how Bethesda wants Skyrim on every electronic device on the planet.
Fallout 76
This is the one we were waiting for. This is an online-only game, to get everyone's main question out of the way. You play as some of the first people to enter the post apocalyptic world in West Virginia, where you're tasked with rebuilding. You can play it solo or with friends, but it's still unclear whether you can play in an instance without other players. You can't lose progression by getting killed and you can easily move bases so I'm hoping any griefing fears will be eliminated with this. I'm less pessimistic than I was, for sure, but there are some ways it could go wrong. I'm really hoping for private servers. There are nuclear warheads you can set off against others and I just don't want that kind of grief. I also saw the caps icon from Fallout Shelter pop up a few times so I'm a little worried we'll have caps microtransactions. Either way I am pretty damn sure I'm getting this day one because it looks super fun. I may not love every aspect for sure, but I'm excited to try it. They're going to have a beta to test things out so that should definitely answer any remaining questions. There's a collectors edition coming with a power armor helmet that I'm assuming will be too small for my big head. It's all brain, I assure you.
Fallout 76 is coming November 14th this year.
Elder Scrolls: Blades
A totally new Elder Scrolls mobile game that will also eventually come to PC, console, and VR. It's first person, playable in landscape and portrait, with seemingly solid controls. This will come out this fall, hopefully after I've gotten a phone upgrade.
Fallout Shelter
Fallout Shelter is coming... now! to the PS4 and Switch.
That's it for everything this year. Todd then went on to tease two new things coming later on (no year mentioned)
Starfield
This is the first new property Bethesda Game Studios (the developer, not the publisher) has started in 24 years. We only got a teaser but it seems to be a sci-fi RPG maybe?
Elder Scrolls VI
Wait, they actually teased a new Elder Scrolls? Yes they did! We got a flyover of the world we'll be playing in and nothing else. But I honestly didn't expect anything. I figured with The Elder Scrolls Online still doing great business they'd stay away from the single player games for at least a couple more years. But there we have it. It's coming!
This was a great presentation and my hype level is high. Time to start throwing money at Bethesda.
Rage 2
This one looks like a hoot. I loved Rage but the open-world part didn't exactly land. The gunplay was near perfect but it left some to be desired. This time, id is partnering with Avalanche (of Just Cause fame) to bring something special and the trailer and gameplay look like exactly what I was hoping for.
Elder Scrolls Legends and Elder Scrolls Online updates
These games seem to be doing really well for Bethesda. They spent some time talking about some new updates. I'm just gonna be straight up honest here, I went to the fridge and the bathroom for these because it's not my bag really.
Doom Eternal
We don't have a ton of info on this but we're getting another Doom game soon. Twice as many monster types, Hell on Earth. It sounds great and I can't wait to hear more.
Quake Champions
This one is still in early access but it'll be free to play when it releases. You can buy it now (or at launch) to unlock all the playable characters. If you download it this week you can keep playing it Free to Play throughout early access.
Prey Updates
I was a bit surprised to see updates to this but it has some neat new modes coming. One that's a king of randomized simulation roguelike and one that's multiplayer with five people. One human, four mimics, playing hide and seek. This sounds fun and hilarious and terrifying.
Wolfenstein Young Blood
A new Wolfenstein game is coming soon where you play solo or with a friend as B.J.'s twin daughters in the 80s. This brings the game to a potentially very new setting. I'm looking forward to this. Machine Games thanked us for supporting their mission of killing all Nazis and the "Fuck Nazis" narrative got a lot of applause from the crowd and my living room.
Skyrim on Amazon Echo
This was a joke skit starting Keegan Michael Key from Key and Peele. The game obviously isn't coming to Echo but it was a pretty funny take on how Bethesda wants Skyrim on every electronic device on the planet.
Fallout 76
This is the one we were waiting for. This is an online-only game, to get everyone's main question out of the way. You play as some of the first people to enter the post apocalyptic world in West Virginia, where you're tasked with rebuilding. You can play it solo or with friends, but it's still unclear whether you can play in an instance without other players. You can't lose progression by getting killed and you can easily move bases so I'm hoping any griefing fears will be eliminated with this. I'm less pessimistic than I was, for sure, but there are some ways it could go wrong. I'm really hoping for private servers. There are nuclear warheads you can set off against others and I just don't want that kind of grief. I also saw the caps icon from Fallout Shelter pop up a few times so I'm a little worried we'll have caps microtransactions. Either way I am pretty damn sure I'm getting this day one because it looks super fun. I may not love every aspect for sure, but I'm excited to try it. They're going to have a beta to test things out so that should definitely answer any remaining questions. There's a collectors edition coming with a power armor helmet that I'm assuming will be too small for my big head. It's all brain, I assure you.
Fallout 76 is coming November 14th this year.
Elder Scrolls: Blades
A totally new Elder Scrolls mobile game that will also eventually come to PC, console, and VR. It's first person, playable in landscape and portrait, with seemingly solid controls. This will come out this fall, hopefully after I've gotten a phone upgrade.
Fallout Shelter
Fallout Shelter is coming... now! to the PS4 and Switch.
That's it for everything this year. Todd then went on to tease two new things coming later on (no year mentioned)
Starfield
This is the first new property Bethesda Game Studios (the developer, not the publisher) has started in 24 years. We only got a teaser but it seems to be a sci-fi RPG maybe?
Elder Scrolls VI
Wait, they actually teased a new Elder Scrolls? Yes they did! We got a flyover of the world we'll be playing in and nothing else. But I honestly didn't expect anything. I figured with The Elder Scrolls Online still doing great business they'd stay away from the single player games for at least a couple more years. But there we have it. It's coming!
This was a great presentation and my hype level is high. Time to start throwing money at Bethesda.
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I liked the part where I was right and we're not getting any new Elder Scrolls content or announcements this year!
When you went to your fridge did you play Skyrim?
I donât have a Samsung Smart Fridge unfortunately.
Nah, my fridge is still powered by the ice delivery man.
Anyways, Elder Scrolls Blades looks really fun. I signed up for the beta and they didn't have the iPhone 6S as an option. It was all iPhone 7's and higher plus Androids. They let me select other but I wonder if it requires a much newer phone than I have?
I'm disappointed with the Fallout 76 part about being online-only. and that we don't know if you can play w/out other players. If there isn't a single player aspect to it, I'll probably pass on it. I have been playing some games that their original game play intention was online and with others PVE and PVP. However, I play those games in single player mode. I usually prefer to play alone, but I do enjoy playing with friends (not against) sometimes, too. Maybe the beta test will be interesting and maybe in due time I'll have a better understanding of the game.
What?! I just told Jon we probably won't see Elder Scrolls VI for many years, but they showed the world?! Wow! I have to go check that out. I wonder if it'll be ready in less than 5 years. Thanks for the info!!!!
Oh well this article says there is solo mode (I guess we just have to presume w/out other players?). Maybe it's kind of like Diablo III. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-76-is-an-always-online-multiplayer-focused/1100-6459647/?utm_source=gamefaqs&utm_medium=partner&utm_content=news_module&utm_campaign=homepage
Todd said you could play solo but I play MMOs mostly solo. That doesnât necessarily mean you can play single-player. We still need some more details about the specifics there.
Alexa Skyrim: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D6STSX8/
Oh wow. I assumed that was pure joke.
Travis, I did too.
Yeah, sorry, I watched a video about it after I wrote that.
https://youtu.be/PdYtulRRfDU
Interview with Todd Howard linked above. He clarified a lot about Fallout 76.
There is no offline mode. Playing solo does NOT mean you will be playing alone. They're working on ways to opt out of PvP and balancing the rewards for people who aren't interested in that kind of gameplay.
VATS is going to be present but it won't slow time like it has.
There are no NPCs aside from robots. Presumably other than the Overseer but that may just be a voice on the intercom in the vault and nothing else. There's still a world to discover via terminals and things like that, but there are no NPCs. That seems weird but they could make that work.
Mods will come, but not at launch. Private worlds will come, so you can mod up your server the way you want, but not at launch.
Thanks Travis, that's great news. Gonna watch it with the stack of other videos
I dunno about great news but hopeful for sure. If they can keep griefing from being a problem then most of my worries are gone.
It's showing they are at least listening and thinking about it. They might be making a game that's not meant to be played by yourself or at least right away because private servers aren't coming at launch.
"Listening" I'm not sure about since they just announced it and haven't exactly had time to react to anything people have said. But it definitely shows they knew what people would be concerned about and are working on those things.
I don't know what you mean about it not being a game for me. I went into their conference knowing that it would almost definitely be online only and was still interested. I've already said that even with my questions about it I'm very interested. I don't need private servers. I play MMOs some. For me it's just about being able to have fun playing a game without a troop of assholes wrecking my fun, and that's where the questions still lie, as for what kinds of things are planned to prevent that. He did specifically say that griefing is something they're spending a lot of time working out, thus it's hopeful news.
> I don't know what you mean about it not being a game for me.
Sorry for the confusion there. When I said "not mean to be played by yourself" I mean't it wasn't to be played single player by yourself. This game does seem to be a multiplayer game and that's cool with me. I'm not sure if i'll get it yet, but it's interesting. I think I want to know more but playing a Fallout game with friends does sound neat.
> For me it's just about being able to have fun playing a game without a troop of assholes wrecking my fun, and that's where the questions still lie, as for what kinds of things are planned to prevent that. He did specifically say that griefing is something they're spending a lot of time working out, thus it's hopeful news.
Yeah that's big for me too. I don't want to build a base and have people smash it up. That's why we have Cheerful Ghost private Terraria servers.
Ohhhh "By yourself"
I get it. lol
Thanks for the link, Travis! They did remind us about that interview that I was referencing when I said the Elder Scrolls VI is years away, because the technology isn't there....yet. Unfortunately, I still have questions about Fallout 76. It'd be cool if it was an online game such as Diablo III, or like GTAV which has GTA Online separately. This one seems to be more of GTA Online. I would rather play on my own with NPCs than real people (with some already noted exceptions). I may let this one slide for a bit and I'll wait for you or someone else here or somewhere else get it and let me read more about it, so I can decide whether or not to get it. It does look cool and being 4 times bigger than Fallout 4 is impressive. I'm also glad that you can build anywhere and that building is now part of the game. We'll see.....
Doom Eternal sounds cool, too. I just watched a quick video about it. They said it will debut at QuakeCon in August, I interpret that as a release date/time. It does sound awesome like Doom and looks kinda cool. I'm interested, but I just hope the season pass (assuming they have one again) isn't full of multiplayer only stuff. https://youtu.be/umShGxEAw2E
That doesnât mean a release in August, thatâs just when theyâll be giving it a proper showing.
While it wouldnât be unheard of for Bethesda to drop one of their âand its available... right now!â, they would want to show it off and then leave time for pre-orders for such a huge game.
Right.
There was a behind the scenes mini-doc and interview that gave us some new info about Fallout 76.
This is a reddit post that breaks down the new info and links to the video if you want to watch the full video
https://reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/8qsx8s/complete_notes_from_the_noclip_documentary/
This mostly hit all the notes I wanted it to. You canât just get repeatedly killed by the same person. That kind of targeted griefing isnât possible. But you can still get randomly killed because they want that kind of danger. You donât lose anything, you just respawn, and people who do this get bounties so if you grief you have a target on your back.
Also nukes can be used on players but considering how hard they are to get, it would be wasteful to do so. The player you nuked respawns and you lose the potential loot you would have gotten from nuking a better spot.
It does really seem like theyâve balanced things pretty well.
LOTS of people are saying great things about Rage 2, which this and Elder Scrolls Blades are the two games i'm most excited to play soon. Fallout 76 looks interesting but i'm not sure i'll actually play it when it drops as I haven't finished Fallout 4. I was addicted to Fallout 3 but I just didn't have a similar experience with 4 even though I enjoyed what I played.
https://www.gamesradar.com/i-played-the-rage-2-demo-four-times-in-a-row-and-it-got-better-and-smarter-every-time-heres-what-i-learned/
Saying that I'm more interested in a Rage sequel than a Fallout game feels weird, but Rage 2 is high up on my most anticipated list. Right below Spiderman.
Itâs worth noting that thereâs no Steam page for Fallout 76 or Rage 2. And based on this FAQ it looks like the Bethesda launcher may be the only way to get them.
https://fallout.bethesda.net/faq
Sounds like they are going the Blizzard route.
I don't think it's a good move to only have the game via their launcher. I think it'd sell a hell of a lot better on Steam, they could use both platforms.
They would sell a lot more copies for sure but those micro-transactions for cosmetics would get the Steam tax. They might figure they can get more money on their own turf. What may happen is an initial launch on their own launcher and then a month or so later launch it on Steam. This is just spitballing on my part.
The only place to play Fortnite is via Epicâs launcher and they seem to be doing pretty well.
Itâs also worth noting that this may just be for the beta and the final release may go on Steam. Itâs hard to tell. But the only way to get into the beta is to preorder, and the only way to preorder seems to be their launcher.
I bet this is just for the beta:
"A: The B.E.T.A. will be available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and on PC (via Bethesda.net). Stay tuned for exact timing for each platform here and @Fallout on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Please note that the B.E.T.A. for Xbox One will begin first, followed by other platforms."
I'm fairly sure they will push to Steam as they have for Quake Champions. It's a pretty big store and they'd miss a few sales if they didn't. Might be an interesting long term goal for them but in the case of Blizzard they went from box copies to selling it on Battle.net so the transition was pretty seamless.
I would agree except that there's just no Steam page for pre-ordering, and right after E3 is when people are excited about that and their previous games that were announced with a release date later in the year have all gone up there immediately. I'm like 50/50 on it.
Two-months-later necro bump
https://www.overclock3d.net/news/software/fallout_76_won_t_be_released_on_steam_-_pc_version_will_be_exclusive_to_bethesda_net/1
No Steam version of Fallout 76.
Honestly the POTENTIALLY worse news here is that they're shooting to have beta progress transfer over to the full game.
Which means people who preorder have a clear advantage in this.
I say "potentially" though, because it depends a lot on how they deal with balance.
It was only a matter of time before they kept their next game to the Beth client. Now Iâm wondering if 76 will be free to play akin to Fortnight?
It may be eventually but the beta requires a preorder so it wonât be for launch or a lot of people who are out $60 would be very upset.
Ah right, that's good to know. I guess we might see Fallout 5 and everything else on the Beth client then to launch. I wonder if they will do a timed year exclusive or even longer?
Also wondering if this is how iD games will end up? Not Quake Live obviously as that's on Steam already but at some point will they be Beth client exclusives?
It seems like at a certain point publishers can save money running their own servers and skipping the 30% Steam tax. I imagine if it goes well for them, this may be the way forward for Bethesda.