Despite it being some years since PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds introduced the gaming world to the online battle royale genre, its influence has not waned with time. While the multiplayer mode continues to be a great inclusion in some games, simply being a battle royale is not enough to warrant success. The most recent developer to learn this is Bethesda who have decided to end the mode for a big game.
Bethesda has confirmed that Fallout 76's Nuclear Winter battle royale mode will be coming to an end this September. The announcement was made in a Fallout 76 update post on the official Bethesda blog, confirming the team will move on. Until Nuclear Winter is officially closed, Fallout 76 players who partake in the mode can get some nice rewards and bonus items.
The news about the death of Nuclear Winter came at the end of the pre-Xbox showcase blogpost. While the Fallout 76 team were happy with the support from the community, the initial buzz did not last long. The post confirms that players preferred "other aspects of the game" as there was less investment into Nuclear Winter. It was due to Nuclear Winter's diminishing player base and the challenge of keeping the mode updated alongside the main game that led to the decision by Bethesda.
The mode itself came as something of a surprise to Fallout 76 players due to Bethesda's comments regarding battle royale games in 2018. Fans were not expecting the mode to be included as to many, Fallout 76 required more work on the main sections of the game. Since Nuclear Winter released into Beta almost two years ago to the day, Fallout 76 has made big strides in fixing what fans saw as an underwhelming release towards to end of 2018.
The latest new content for Fallout 76 was the Locked and Loaded update which released in April, ushering in the fourth season of the game. As Fallout 76's "Cold Steel" season is in full swing, it means new limited-time events are launching as well. The same blog post confirming the end of Nuclear Winter announced a new quest line with the Brotherhood of Steel which is launching early next week.
As for more details on what is coming to Fallout 76, the game will be featured in the upcoming Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase being hosted on 13 June.
Fallout 76 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Bethesda