‘Fallout 76’ Release Date, Features: Director Todd Howard Insists It’s Not ‘Survival’ and They Care About Player Progression

Despite several “franchise firsts” in terms of the title’s gameplay, “Fallout 76” is not going to leap to another video game genre. Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard recently explained why they do not like to consider “Fallout 76” a survival game.

The announcement of “Fallout 76” at the Electronic Entertainment Expo last June was highly expected. However, fans were still treated to several surprises due to the all-new gameplay features confirmed in its presentation, like the lack of non-playable characters (NPCs) or the addition of online multiplayer gameplay.

Despite these big changes, Howard told The Guardian that they still would not prefer to call “Fallout 76” a survival game. In an interview published on Tuesday, Howard said, “We avoid the word ‘survival’ because people’s minds immediately go to ‘DayZ’ and ‘Rust’ and certain other games, and those comparisons are not really accurate for what we’re doing.”

Most online survival video games need to maintain a gameplay where all players will start the game on an equal footing. So, normally, players begin without any weapon and will have to scavenge the area for loots. However, some players can be luckier than others. And those who are having a bad day can exit the game pretty soon simply for not having the proper tools to fight an enemy.

Howard implied that is not the scenario they want to dominate in the “Fallout 76” main campaign. “No, that’s not fun. Well, it’s fun for whoever killed you, but not for you … Death is already bad enough in a game because you’re losing time, that we didn’t feel we needed to add any further penalty. We wanted to make sure you don’t lose your progression,” Howard explained.

On the other hand, Howard’s recent interview seems to be a response to an earlier rumor that spread even before “Fallout 76” was announced. In May there were reports claiming that “Fallout 76” is somewhat the franchise’s transition to the role-playing survival game genre.

“Fallout 76” will be released on Nov. 14 on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Players who will pre-order the game can access the game early through an exclusive open beta.