The Failure of Fallout 76: Lessons Learned by Bethesda
Bethesda’s latest video game release, Fallout 76, faced significant criticism and disappointment upon its launch. One veteran studio developer, Bruce Nesmith, revealed that the failure may have been a result of arrogance on the part of Bethesda.
The Arrogance of Success
In an interview with the MinnMax YouTube channel, Nesmith expressed his opinion that after years of successful game releases, Bethesda started to believe they were unbeatable. They approached the creation of Fallout 76 with this mindset, only to discover that it was far from a success.
A Missed Opportunity
Despite ongoing updates and improvements, Fallout 76 remains a near-miss for Bethesda. The game received lukewarm international ratings and faced heavy criticism from the public due to its numerous flaws.
The Consequences of Arrogance
Nesmith explained that Bethesda acted lightly and failed to give enough attention to achieving desired results with Fallout 76. They took for granted that any product they released would be well-received by the public.
“We began to convince ourselves that we were infallible, that we could do anything. Obviously, this was wrong,”
Learning from Mistakes
Now, Bethesda has learned its lesson. While Fallout 76 still manages to attract a significant number of players every day, despite its outdated status, the recent release of Starfield has proven to be a huge success.