If there’s one thing that Fallout 76 does remarkably well, it’s making people angry about the way the game is monetized, all the way back to the Great Canvas Shortage with the game’s collector’s edition. When the game’s roadmap for 2020 was announced, it included a note that the game’s first “season” would be free for everyone, which led to speculation (even on our podcast) that subsequent seasons would not necessarily be free. But a new tweet has clarified that as poor phrasing, stating unambiguously that all seasons will be free for everyone.
The tweet in question apologizes for the lack of clarity, making it clear that this was not a change in plans but an existing plan that was poorly communicated. That doesn’t mean Fallout 1st players might not get exclusive little add-ons in the future, of course; it just means that the seasonal content itself will not require additional payment and was never intended to. So that’s a loss for the people responsible for drafting that announcement, but it means that the game is definitely not aiming at fleecing players! We can forgive people who might have assumed otherwise.
To clarify, our Seasons in Fallout 76 are going to be free for all our players. We may add extra Fallout 1st bonus rewards in the future, but want to focus on getting Season 1 in game first and seeing your thoughts.
Sorry for confusion on this.
— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) May 20, 2020