Despite the Fallout 76 Collector's Edition bag controversy having begun only days ago, the story is rapidly developing and continuing to spiral out of control. Bethesda's bait-and-switch of a canvas bag for a cheap, nylon bag sparked a heated discussion involving Collector's Edition owners that inevitably led to a response and compensation offer from Bethesda. The in-game currency offer, 500 atoms (roughly $5 USD), has seriously angered and offended fans who purchased the Collector's Edition. Due to Bethesda's fans feeling offended by this offer, Reddit has quickly become a haven for those angered fans to voice their opinions.
Since Reddit erupted in a multitude of furious fans, Fallout 76 Collector's Edition owners have rallied together to begin filing official complaints against Bethesda for false advertisement. These Reddit users have focused on encouraging their cause's supporters to not only file a complaint, but to also seek a refund. The constant presence of enraged fans on Reddit is continually producing more stories that are exposing Bethesda, one of them being Bethesda's gifting of free bags. As if the Fallout subreddit was not already hectic enough, this story suggests that Bethesda gave free, high-quality bags to Fallout 76 influencers at its Greenbrier promo event.
The event was meant to give content creators and influencers an opportunity to experience Fallout 76 first, as well as to convince them that it is worth playing. Those attending would have had no way to know about the bait-and-switch that would occur a month later, yet Bethesda may very well have. However, the event did occur before the release of Fallout 76, and the bags offered to the influencers isn't identical in design to the promised Collector's Edition version. Either way, Bethesda still willingly gave free bags to influencers at a promo event, and then later turned around and distributed cheap nylon bags to its loyal customers. Even if Bethesda had simply been overwhelmed by the amount of Collector's Editions ordered, there are still countless ways it could have handled the situation better.
Although the reasoning behind Bethesda's misleading advertisement is still unknown, Bethesda has likely not explained itself due to there being no justifiable response to the fiasco. While this is only speculation, it would certainly explain Bethesda's silence and lack of honesty. However, having only just addressed the state of Fallout 76, Bethesda does seem to live by its own schedule when feeling pressured by fans. Either way, its fans are due an official apology, and that will likely come soon.
Fallout 76 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.