Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Bethesda loves the Switch, but ‘Fallout 76’ won’t be coming to the platform

Steven Petite
By
Fallout 76 Hands-on
Bethesda

With Fallout 76 just weeks away, some Nintendo Switch owners may be wondering if the multiplayer-oriented shooter may be in the cards for Nintendo’s hybrid platform. According to Bethesda’s marketing executive Pete Hines, Fallout 76 “wasn’t doable” on Switch, GameSpot reports.

Hines offered this statement during a panel at PAX AUS. Now, this isn’t all that surprising. Fallout 76 is shaping up to be a massive game with a distinctly multiplayer focus, a change of pace for the series. Despite recently launching Nintendo Switch Online, the Switch isn’t exactly seen as a great console for online gaming. As an always-online experience, Fallout 76 would have a hard time working within the Switch’s design.

Recommended Videos

For starters, it would largely eliminate the on-the-go appeal of the Switch, forcing players to play it almost solely as a console game. But we also imagine the Switch would struggle to support the scope of the experience to begin with, given its limited hardware capabilities in comparison to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Bethesda would’ve likely had to downgrade the visuals and performance just to get it to work properly. That in and of itself likely contributed to not supporting the Switch for Fallout 76.

Fallout 76 – The Power of the Atom! Intro to Nukes Gameplay Video

It’s not all bad news, Switch owners. Hines and Bethesda seem to be big fans of the Switch hardware. “The Switch is something I can say with certainty that it’s a part of every conversation with every dev we have now about what we’re doing going forward because we consider it to be a viable platform,” Hines said. He went on to say that every game currently in development under the Bethesda umbrella has been considered for release on Switch.

Related

Indeed, Bethesda has been one of the major third-party supporters of the Switch. So far, the studio has released ports of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and Doom on Switch, all three of which wouldn’t normally be considered titles likely to appear on a Nintendo platform. Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Legends are both currently in development for Switch. Fallout 76, meanwhile, joins The Elder Scrolls Online as the only two Bethesda games confirmed to not be coming to Switch. It just so happens that both of those are persistent online experiences.

The takeaway of the story: If it’s not an online-focused Bethesda game, there is a good chance it’ll arrive on Switch sooner or later.

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

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Steven Petite
Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
The Nintendo Switch just got 2 surprise games — and they’re both worth grabbing
A teddy beat sits on an embroidery hoop in Stitch.

If you were unable to catch this week's Nintendo IndieWorld showcase, then you missed a surprisingly loaded show. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes got a May release date, WayForward showed off its Yars' Revenge revival, and Steamworld Heist 2 got an exciting reveal. In the midst of all those headlines, two smaller games were surprise released on the platform: Stitch and Sticky Business. Don't sleep on either of them, as they're both worth a purchase.

Both games are ports of previously released games, but both went a bit under the radar upon their original launch. Sticky Business modestly launched last summer on PC, whereas Stitch has actually been around since 2022 as an Apple Arcade exclusive. The latter even has an Apple Vision Pro version now that can be played in mixed reality. I can't blame anyone for missing either, but their Switch releases offer a good opportunity to catch up with some quiet hidden gems.

Read more
All cross-platform games (PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)
Two squads of heroes clash in an Overwatch 2 trailer.

Cross-platform support is becoming more important in the world of video games. Multiplayer hits like Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Fortnite have pushed crossplay into the limelight, and now most AAA multiplayer games release with at least partial cross-platform support. Finding every cross-platform game is no easy feat, though, so we did the hard work to bring you a comprehensive list of games that support crossplay.

Unfortunately, there aren't any rules when it comes to crossplay, so each game handles the feature a little differently. To make matters more confusing, certain backward-compatible games on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X still support crossplay on the most recent hardware, even if there isn't an official release for that hardware.

Read more
The best Fallout 4 mods
Everyone's Best Friend

The Fallout games, at least since Fallout 3, have been absolutely massive games in both scale and popularity. The post-nuclear-war setting is rife with interesting stories to experience and monsters to kill. Fallout 4 was the last single-player entry in the series before Fallout 76 took the game into a persistent multiplayer experience. A large appeal of these games is how you are able to actually role-play and immerse yourself in the game world, which isn't so easy with other players jumping around in their underwear. Thanks to mods, it has never been a better time to revisit the last "pure" Fallout game.

Just like Skyrim, Fallout 4 mods are incredibly popular. Some are inspired to fix the numerous bugs and glitches Bethesda games have become famous for, while others look to add new features. As open and dynamic as the base game is, mods just open the door to an almost endless supply of tools you can use to extend the life of your game. With so many mods available, it can be a little overwhelming to know where to start. We've sorted through all the best Fallout 4 mods out there and came up with the best ones you should install before stepping out of the vault once again.
Full Dialogue Interface

Read more