E3 2019: Bethesda predictions, rumors and expectations

What we will see: Some attempt to salvage Fallout 76

Fallout 76 is possibly the biggest game-related blunder in history – certainly of this generation. Granted, Fallout 4 felt a little like the series was getting long in the tooth and needed either a lengthy break or a new angle. Fallout 76 was an attempt at something new. It was certainly ambitious, and certainly a risk by breaking from the usual formula; but, it also went wrong in ways I don’t think anyone could have possibly conceived. I’m talking about totally underwhelming and straight-up broken gameplay filled with bugs and odd design choices.

A portion of this year’s E3 2019 Bethesda presentation – maybe the biggest chunk of it – will be spent trying to convince us that the best days of Fallout 76 are ahead of it and its something worth investing in. Whether that means a lot more content, some incentives to get people to play, or maybe even just a mea culpa saying “we’ve heard your feedback and we are making Fallout 76 the Fallout experience you fans want and deserve”, Bethesda will certainly try to salvage what they can with this game.

There has been a ton of work put in on Fallout 76 so its no longer the broken mess it was for months, but it’s also arguably still lacking a solid amount of content. People have been burned by things outside of the actual gameplay issues (like a data breach), so it’s going to be incredibly hard to win their confidence and loyalty back.  Honestly, it might just be too late. I wouldn’t expect them to shut the game down this year or anything, but we might stop seeing major updates in 2020 if things don’t improve.