Bethesda releases additional information about the upcoming Fallout 76 beta, confirming that progress will carry over into the main game giving beta testers a head start.
There have been some concerns about the upcoming beta for Fallout 76 because of its late start date, with people worried that only a month between beta and full release won’t give Bethesda enough time to implement the necessary changes. There is, however, some good news regarding the beta: any progress made in it will carry over into the main game, meaning that the testing phase can be treated as a head start for those who have preordered.
The announcement comes in the form of an FAQ on the Fallout 76 section of Bethesda’s website. Some other minor interesting details were also clarified, including the fact that feedback from the beta may not be incorporated until after the game’s launch. It was also revealed that, despite being a closed beta, players will be welcome to post screenshots and make gameplay videos.
Easily the largest other piece of information from the FAQ is the fact that the Fallout 76 beta will give access to the full game. This is particularly interesting when considered alongside the fact that progress will carry over to the main game, for it suggests that industrious players have a real chance to get those slower initial hours out of the way before launch day.
It’s a curious move on Bethesda’s part to allow players with plenty of spare time to effectively progress without limitations before the game has been released, so it’s likely that there will be some kind of caveat. The “full game” likely just means the full map, and not that every gameplay feature is available; it’s unlikely, for example, that microtransactions will be live during the beta.
Regardless of limitations, a beta that allows access to the full game and allows all progress to carry over is a very attractive prospect that will likely encourage plenty of additional pre-orders from fans keen to get a head start. Bethesda are setting themselves apart since betas usually offer a heavily limited build of the full game, but then again, betas usually don’t take place just a month before the full game is due to release.
Fallout 76 releases November 14,2018 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
