Xbox One players will get access to ‘Fallout 76’ beta first

By Gabe Gurwin June 19, 2018

The Fallout series has been generally associated with the PC more than with dedicated consoles, but if you want early access to the beta test for Fallout 76, you’re going to have to fire up your Xbox One.

Bethesda Game Studios typically makes single-player role-playing games, but in order to mitigate the number of bugs and issues in Fallout 76 when it launches this November, the studio will run a beta test. Dates and times for when it will start haven’t been revealed, but the game’s website said that it will begin first on the Xbox One before moving to other systems.

This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as director Todd Howard took the stage during Microsoft’s E3 2018 press conference to give a sneak peak of the game before Bethesda’s own show. When this occurs, it usually means the platform has some sort of marketing or downloadable content exclusivity, and Bethesda has worked with Microsoft in this way before — The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim‘s first expansions launched on Xbox 360 before either PC or PlayStation 3.

In order to gain access to the Fallout 76 beta — which stands for “break it early test application” — you must pre-order the game through either a physical or digital retailer. You should receive a code either in your email or on the pre-order receipt, and once you’ve gone to Bethesda’s website and entered it on your account, you’ll be registered for the beta when it begins.

Fallout 76 looks to be a remarkably different type of game from Bethesda, as it will be playable with dozens of other people and will largely be player-driven. Its West Virginia setting is substantially larger than the entirety of Fallout 4, and the game’s emphasis on crafting allows you to make the most of the apocalypse. Bethesda has also stored several nuclear weapons across the map, which you can choose to use if you see fit. Doing so “creates a high-level zone with rare and valuable resources,” but are these riches worth the murder of dozens of innocent digital people? Only you can decide.

Fallout 76 releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 14.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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