When Bethesda Softworks releasedFallout 76back in 2018,Falloutfans had an idea that the game had gone through some development woes, but may not have known how much the game suffered from it. In a new report, various developers from Bethesda and ZeniMax Media explain the brutal crunch and highlight other development problems experienced leading to the problematicFallout 76launch.
Kotaku recently interviewed 10 former Bethesda and ZeniMax employees that were associated withFallout 76under the condition of anonymity.Fallout 76was released with successful sales at the start, but the game was rife with issues that were exacerbated in some cases by the online functionality of the game which was a departure from previous titles in the series likeFallout 4andFallout: New Vegas. The 10 former developers gave a glimpse into why the full release ofFallout 76had so many bugs and glitches, including extended hours over a six-day work week, low hourly pay, and hard working conditions that left the developers physically and emotionally exhausted.
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The Quality Assurance team forFallout 76at Bethesda Softworks was a revolving door according to the interviewed employees, with one stating that it “destroyed people.” To encourage workers to continue coming in for weekend crunch, Bethesda Softworks offered free pizza and an extra $200 compensation, but this wasn’t enough according to some employees.
The Bethesda Softworks QA testers recounted being watched by other employees dubbed “chronic snitches” for their breaks and trips to the bathroom, screaming and crying at times, and feeling a weight in their chest after pulling into work atBethesda Softworks. One of Kotaku’s sources also stated that despite the size and scope ofFallout 76increasing over its development, no additional resources were given to the QA team to keep up. Two concerned QA testers wrote a letter to Director of QA at ZeniMax Rob Gray while working onFallout 76, but Gray allegedly “deflected or denied” any crunch was happening under poor working conditions.
In many ways, Bethesda Softworks was able to improve uponFallout 76through continual patch fixes and major updates likeInvaders from Beyond,Steel Reign, andNight of the Mothand part of that is having a vision for the game which didn’t exist prior to release according to the aforementioned developers. Beyond the Bethesda Softworks QA team affected byFallout 76’s development troubles, several senior developers fromThe Elder ScrollsandFalloutseries' left after the release ofFallout 76which suggests the problems went up the corporate ladder. Although manyFalloutfans felt scorned with the release ofFallout 76, many employees departed from Bethesda Softworks because of the project as well.
Fallout 76is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
