Todd Howard has revealed that Fallout 76 is the release he is the most proud of across his long career in game development, eclipsing the likes of Oblivion, Skyrim, and Fallout 3 and 4. Howard explained his reasons for choosing Fallout 76 above other titles which feel like more obvious choices, despite acknowledging that it "didn't launch great."
Fallout 76's release in 2018 was massively controversial for various reasons. The series' shift to multiplayer took some adjustment for players, and the game itself was filled with bugs. It did not feature human NPCs at launch, either - those would arrive in a future update. Outside of the game, Fallout 76's $200 Power Armor Edition did not deliver the advertised canvas bag, replacing it with a nylon version. It was one of the most controversial game releases in memory, and it has faced an uphill battle ever since. To Bethesda's credit, it has done a great job of turning Fallout 76 around through consistent support for over seven years, making it a completely different experience from what was released back in 2018. In 2026, this stands as a particular point of pride for Todd Howard.
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Todd Howard is More Proud of Fallout 76 Than Any Other Game 'In Many Respects'
Speaking recently on the Kinda Funny Gamescast, Bethesda's Todd Howard explained why Fallout 76 is the game he's most proud of. Howard, whose game portfolio includes classics such as Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and Fallout 4 (among others), said, "It was incredibly difficult. It was difficult to get it to launch, and it didn't launch great, and then it was even harder to pull it out of that, and then when it starts getting really popular again, maintain it." Years after its release, Fallout 76 continues to enjoy big player count numbers, which have been helped by the massive popularity of the Prime Video adaptation.
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Howard explained his thoughts a little deeper. "In many respects, it's the game that we've done that I’m the most proud of. It's so hard to do and then maintain as a relevant game, and I think if you look across the industry, the amount of games like it that there have been or come and gone, and here's 76 still there with big numbers and doing well." In the era of live-service games, Howard's feelings on the matter ring true. There are multiple examples of live-service games being shut down soon after their launch, after not being immediately successful. Bethesda took a different approach with Fallout 76, believing in its potential and putting in the time and effort to make it work. Struggles on the scale that Fallout 76 experienced were new territory for Bethesda, and it's extremely impressive that it actually managed to pull it back in the years that followed.
Although it's no surprise that Howard is proud of Fallout 76's massive turnaround, his portfolio of games may raise some eyebrows. During his time at Bethesda, Howard has worked on iconic titles such as Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, and Fallout 4, all of which found critical success right out of the game. Despite this, it's the studio's perseverance in the face of adversity that stands out most to Howard.
According to Howard, there's plenty more to come from Fallout 76. "I get to see the roadmap that's planned for the game, and it gets even better," he said. Fallout 76's Season 24 and The Backwoods update are set to release on March 3, adding Bigfoot to the game. Full details on what to expect from the update have not yet been revealed, but a developer AMA on February 27 will hopefully shed a little more light on the update.
Fallout 76
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