In every typical way,Fallout 76already meets the definition of being an MMO, except it’s currently missing out on an informal feature that has long since become a recurring meme for MMOs to include. However, afuture update forFallout 76is set to change that. Just recently, Bethesda revealed that fishing will be introduced toFallout 76.
While it’s by no means a defining criterion of the genre, according to a recurring trend that has devolved into a long-running meme, the mark of a ‘true’ MMO is whether or not players can go fishing in the game, even if it makes no sense to the game’s setting or gameplay loop, whereas both can arguably be said forFallout 76. Regardless, with such a feature coming to the game in the near future,Fallout 76will finally join the bandwagon of being a ‘true’ MMO.
What To Expect From Fallout 76’s Fishing Update
In a surprise announcement during the 2024 Fallout Day Festivities, a fishing update was announced forFallout 76. Overall, details about this feature are currently sparse, but it’s already been revealed that at the very least, players will be able to cook new food and drink buffs using ingredients earned from fishing.
There’s no release date for when fishing will be introduced toFallout 76yet, but it’s speculated to arrive sometime in 2025.
While fishing is stilluncharted territory for theFalloutfranchise, fans should expect it to be largely similar to the fishing mechanics from bothSkyrimandElder Scrolls Online, which are fairly simple compared to fishing mechanics in other modern MMOs. In other words, there presumably won’t be any in-depth progression systems for fishing inFallout 76.
Fallout 76’s Upcoming Fishing Feature Already Has Fans Divided
In the short time since the announcement,Fallout 76’s fishing update reveal has been met with mixed responses from fans. On one side, some fans are skeptical that fishing will provide worthwhile rewards, while other fans are amused to seeFallout 76continuing to explore more immersive features, embracing the MMO meme in the process.
Fishing Arguably Doesn’t Fit With Fallout 76’s Setting and Gameplay
While it’s a meme for every MMO to have fishing,Fallout 76’s setting and gameplay loop don’t exactly justify such a feature, considering the majority of water sources throughout the Appalachian wasteland are contaminated with deadly mutants and Radiation that hardly make them suitable food sources. Meanwhile,Fallout 76’s minimalist survival elementsalso don’t quite justify the need for fishing, considering that maintaining hunger and thirst isn’t fatal. So, unless fishing inFallout 76will reward players with rare crafting resources and/or some new CAMP decorations, new food buffs alone might not be enough to set this feature up for success.
Managing hunger and thirst is already optional, though the upcomingplayable ghoul character inFallout 76won’t have to manage their hunger and thirst at all.
Fishing Will Be Right at Home in Fallout 76’s Roleplaying Communities
On the other hand, though, immersion is one of theFalloutfranchise’s strongest appeals, with manyFallout 76players involved in roleplaying communities, both inside and outside of the game. So, fishing inFallout 76doesn’t necessarily need to be justified by its rewards, whereas it can still be considered a welcome addition to the game if it provides an immersive experience with roleplaying opportunities.
Overall, fishing has already turned out to be quite a divisive feature forFallout 76long before it’s even introduced to the game. While it initially seems like a strange fit forFallout 76that will take some getting used to, according to a long-running trend within the genre, whether or not it’s rewarding or immersive, this feature will finally be what makesFallout 76a ‘true’ MMO, worthy of the meme.
Fallout 76
WHERE TO PLAY
Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4, welcome you to Fallout 76. Twenty-five years after the bombs fell, you and your fellow Vault Dwellers—chosen from the nation’s best and brightest – emerge into post-nuclear America on Reclamation Day, 2102. Play solo or join together as you explore, quest, build, and triumph against the wasteland’s greatest threats. Explore a vast wasteland, devastated by nuclear war, in this open-world multiplayer addition to the Fallout story. Experience the largest, most dynamic world ever created in the legendary Fallout universe. Expand southward to Skyline Valley – a brand-new region of Appalachia. Investigate the cause of the electric storm circling overhead and unveil the mystery around Vault 63 and its dwellers, including a shocking new Ghoul type – The Lost.
