With the recent bonanza surrounding Fortnite and cross-play, it’s only natural to assume that Fallout 76 cross-play is going to happen, too. Pete Hines, vice president of Bethesda Softworks, previously expressed his frustration about Sony’s refusal to accommodate Bethesda’s desire for cross-play, so if Fortnite is getting it, he’ll be making sure he gets it, as well. The question remains, though: Does Fallout 76 have cross-play?
Is There Cross Play for Fallout 76?
Until very recently, it had been confirmed that Fallout 76 categorically will not have cross-play. The beta is set to launch next month, with the full game launching on November 14. Although the beta is extremely unlikely to have cross-play, it could hypothetically be implemented for the game’s full release, or at least early in its life cycle. This all boils down to whether or not Sony is happy with how the Fortnite cross-play experiment goes between now and then.
Pete Hines’ previously expressed his frustration towards Sony in relation to a different title—the Elder Scrolls: Legends card game. He said that cross-play was not as “critical” to the success of Fallout 76 as it would be for the card game, but Bethesda would definitely seize the opportunity for Fallout 76 cross-play if Sony said that it was possible.
Todd Howard, the game’s creative director, also commented on the issue in an interview with German website GameStar. He said that cross-play wouldn’t be happening because “Sony is not as helpful as everyone would like.” Cross-play would be a huge benefit for Fallout 76, as it doesn’t have a single-player mode. Todd Howard recognizes this, but Sony doesn’t, unfortunately.
However, with Fortnite cross-play launching today, as well as the fact that Nintendo and Xbox One collaborated to make Minecraft cross-platform, the Japanese giants are being forced to confront the idea of cross-play more and more each day. It seems that there is hope yet that Fallout 76 will be cross-platform.
Fallout 76 is set to launch on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on November 14, 2018.
