In the months leading up to Fallout 76's launch, Bethesda seemed confident in the experimental project, and some fans were cautiously optimistic as a result. However, Fallout 76's launch was a disaster, with the game suffering from a slew of technical problems and lambasted by critics for a wide variety of issues. A series of PR guffaws on Bethesda's part only worsened Fallout 76's reputation, and now, nearly five months since the game's launch, and it's still finding ways to upset fans.

As revealed by Bethesda earlier today, Fallout 76 is adding non-cosmetic microtransactions to the game in the form of Basic Repair Kits. Basic Repair Kits will be sold in Fallout 76's Atomic Shop and can be used to repair damaged items. Normally this would be par for the course of an online-only game, but Bethesda insisted in the past that it would never be adding anything except cosmetic-only microtransactions to Fallout 76.

Bethesda's Pete Hines is quoted as saying the following about Fallout 76 and its microtransactions prior to the game's launch:

"All the content we ever put out for Fallout 76--all the DLC, all the post-launch stuff--is going to be free. That's important. And to say, the Atomic shop is cosmetic stuff. To make sure folks understand--look there's a line. There are people who have crossed it, but we're going to stay on the right side of it in terms of the things you can spend money on and how this stuff works and what you're getting for your $60. That you know, when they put out new content or features or whatever, I'm getting that stuff for free. That feels right."

fallout 76 breaks cosmetic only microtransactions promise

Understandably, Fallout 76 players are upset that Bethesda is going back on its promise, especially when it was so insistent that it was never going to add non-cosmetic microtransactions to the game. A thread on ResetEra about Bethesda adding non-cosmetic microtransactions to Fallout 76 is full of posts of people expressing their disappointment at the decision.

The decision to add non-cosmetic microtransactions to Fallout 76 is just the latest misstep on Bethesda's part. Even with the Wild Appalachia expansion, it's hard to see how Bethesda can recover Fallout 76 in any meaningful way, but stranger things have happened.

Fallout 76 is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: Bethesda, GameSpot, ResetEra