A few prominent games have skipped Steam over the past few months, and it looks like Fallout 76 is joining the club. According to a statement Bethesda issued to PC Gamer, the title's "B.E.T.A." test and final client will only be available through Bethesda.net.
This is somewhat surprising because usually publishers want to maximize the number of gamers who play their product on PC by putting their titles on Steam. However, Bethesda made a huge push for Bethesda.net at E3 2017 and E3 2018, so it's understandable that the company wants more people to use it. Fallout 76 is one of the biggest games launching this year. It's definitely a great way to promote the platform.
The PC version of Fallout 76, for both the B.E.T.A. and the launch, will be available only via Bethesda.net, not on Steam,
Even though Fallout 76 is entirely online, it isn't a massively multiplayer online game. At any given time you'll be playing with dozens of people, not thousands. It's similar to titles like Anthem and Destiny 2. However, if you don't like playing with other gamers, you can also experience the title on your own. However, it's much easier if you have help, especially when it comes to gathering resources and building.
Fallout 76 isn't a hardcore survival game like Ark: Survival Evolved or Conan Exiles. Bethesda's Todd Howard called it "softcore survival", but it's unclear what that means. It seems that the focus will mostly be on completing quests rather than mining resources or chopping down trees. That's the type of "survival" many gamers prefer.
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