Today, October 23rd is Fallout Day. It's the day in Fallout lore that the Great War started and Americans all across the country went underground into the vaults to survive the nuclear apocalypse.
Marking the occasion, Bethesda held its first-ever Fallout Day Broadcast. There were no major franchise announcements — no remakes on the way and no new details on Fallout 5, which Bethesda has acknowledged is in the works, but very early in production. Instead, today's broadcast focused entirely on new features and content coming to Fallout 76, the action role-playing MMO released back in 2018.
Although Fallout 76 got off to a rough start when it launched thanks to game-breaking bugs and a lack of single-player content, the game has evolved over the years and is now a very solid gameplay experience. Bethesda noted that the Fallout series has seen a record number of players across almost every title in the franchise. Fallout 76, in particular, passed 20 million players. Much of the recent success can be attributed to the popularity of Prime Video's Fallout TV show, which debuted in April of this year.
Looking to keep up the momentum, Bethesda has a ton of new content planned for Fallout 76, and a lot of it was shown in today's broadcast. Bethesda kicked things off by revealing Fallout 76's next update: Gleaming Depths.
The main draw of the update is the gleaming Depths raid, a traditional MMO-style dungeon designed to challenge endgame players. You'll need to be around level 300-plus and you'll need a squad of four players. The raid is set in an abandoned Enclave research lab where you'll face off against ferocious beasts and bots before ultimately battling the Ultracite Terror.
In Gleaming Depths, descend into a mysterious underground research laboratory in the Ash Heap where the Enclave once studied radioactive Ultracite. Find out why the laboratory has been abandoned, squad up and face off against the beasts and bots that remain in the radiation-ridden lab in five punishing encounters.
Bring your best friends, weapons, armor and lots of stimpaks because Gleaming Depths is not for the faint of heart. The final battle against the Ultracite Terror will truly test your mettle.
But, with monumental risks come legendary rewards.
Other exciting announcements today include an update to the Legendary Gear system. You'll now be able to earn and craft Four-Star Legendary Gear.
Coming in December are player titles. These include a prefix and suffix that you can combine in numerous ways to make a unique title. Many of these titles will be unlocked by simply doing things within the game, such as completing quests and challenges.
C.A.M.P. Pets are also coming later this year with the Gleaming Depths update. The feature will be introduced with the ability to add a dog and a cat to your C.A.M.P. They'll be able to interact with special pet furniture, such as a pile of bones for the dog. You'll also be able to pet them and customize their accessories, like their collars.
The last major announcement was that you'll soon be able to play as a ghoul in Fallout 76. Ghouls are a Fallout series staple and anyone who watched the Prime Video series knows how badass they are. Playing as a ghoul in Fallout 76 will open up new playstyles with the addition of ghoul-specific Perk cards and a new Feral meter. Although you won't have to worry about hunger or thirst, you will have to watch your back because many people and factions simply don't like ghouls.
Fallout 76 is available on Xbox, PlayStation and PC. From today through October 29th, you can jump in and play for free. All of the content, including the most recent expansion introducing the Skyline Valley region is accessible for free.