Former Bethesda senior vice president of global marketing and communications Pete Hines has described his biggest Fallout regret from across his 24 years at the company. While Hines was successful throughout his time at Bethesda, there was one particular Fallout 76 debacle that is still on his mind.
The release of Fallout 76 is still regarded as one of the most disastrous launches ever. It's impossible to forget player reaction to the total lack of NPCs in a Fallout game, not to mention the absurd number of bugs that were present at launch. This was all compounded by the game's Power Armor Edition, which retailed for $200 and proved a huge disappointment among fans. The leading issue was the canvas bag debacle; initially, Fallout 76's Power Armor Edition was supposed to arrive with a canvas West Tek bag, but buyers felt short-changed after a canvas shortage meant a nylon alternative was provided instead. It was just another thing to add to the controversy surrounding Fallout 76's terrible launch.
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Fallout 76's Canvas Bag Collector's Edition Still Bothers Pete Hines to this Day
Speaking to DBLTAP, former senior vice president of global marketing and communications at Bethesda, Pete Hines, revealed that the Fallout 76 Collector's Edition debacle still bothers him to this day. "My first reaction was, 'When the f*** did we add a canvas bag to this Collector's Edition?' Because the version I approved did not have one," Hines said. "They were trying to add more value to the Collector's Edition. We were always fighting with the finance people about margins, right? I would throw s*** fits around. ‘We cannot charge $300 for this, it's f***ing insulting.’ But in this case, their hearts were in the right place."
While Hines admits that the canvas shortage was at fault, he says that his "biggest failing there was not pushing immediately for making and sending one to everybody that wants one." However, this was because "I was still annoyed that the damn thing was in there in the first place, and nobody had told me and that this canvas shortage happened. It's probably the dumbest thing I ever did at Bethesda." Hines retired from Bethesda almost two years ago now, but it's understandable that he still thinks of the Fallout 76 mess from time to time.
The years that followed for Fallout 76 make it easier to look back on its launch without too much regret. Bethesda has shown a genuine commitment to improving the game, with tons of Fallout 76 updates transforming it into a far cry from the title that released back in 2018. The days of the missing canvas bag seem like a lifetime ago, and it's good to see Fallout 76 thriving in 2025.
Fallout 76
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