Fallout 76 has a bright future ahead of itself, with countless more content updates in store before ongoing support for the game eventually comes to an end. However, despite having a golden opportunity to experiment with new content inspired by the Fallout show, Fallout 76 seems committed to telling its own stories instead.
Although Fallout 76 takes place over 100 years before the Fallout show on the Fallout franchise’s cannon timeline, Fallout 76 still arguably has the opportunity to explore some of the locations briefly introduced in the Fallout show. This wouldn’t be the first time Fallout 76 visited a location featured later in the franchise’s timeline, and given how much the Fallout show has contributed to the overall franchise’s success, this could be a golden opportunity for Fallout 76’s future content updates. Overall, there’s plenty of room to introduce new content inspired by the show without causing any retcons, so Fallout 76 should reconsider its stance on the Fallout show.

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Fallout 76 Should Reconsider Its Stance on Fallout Show-Inspired Content
During Fallout 76’s panel at QuakeCon 2024, when asked whether the Fallout show influenced any changes to Fallout 76’s future plans, Fallout 76’s creative director Jon Rush responded that the opposite was true, that the show only reinforced the development team to stay committed to their existing plans. “If anything, I’d say, the show really emboldened us to continue what we’re doing.” Fallout 76 already has several cosmetic items inspired by the Fallout show, and it seems that cosmetic items might ultimately be the only direct connection between these two entries in the franchise besides the shared overarching universe.
While Fallout 76 is adding a playable Ghoul character in March 2025, the connection between this feature and the Fallout show’s prominent Ghoul character is allegedly a coincidence. According to an interview with PCGamesN, Fallout 76’s developers were considering experimenting with this feature long before the development team was aware of the Fallout show’s Ghoul character.
It’s no coincidence that Fallout 76 reached record-high player numbers shortly after the premiere of the Fallout show’s first season, with several other games in the franchise enjoying a surge in player counts during this period. Given how big of a contribution the Fallout show’s debut was to the success of the overall franchise, Fallout 76 might be wise to reconsider and experiment with content inspired by the show, especially since Fallout 76 may already have the perfect opportunity to do so.
How Fallout 76’s Future Updates Can Build Upon the Fallout Show’s Lore
A map displayed in a Vault-Tec boardroom during one of the pre-war scenes of the Fallout show reveals the location of every Vault in North America, notably including several Vaults that Fallout games haven’t explored yet. Given that the main story of Fallout 76 tasks the dwellers of Vault 76 with rebuilding America after the inevitable nuclear apocalypse, this is the perfect excuse to visit some of these unexplored Vaults to recruit and aid any survivors.
Some of these unexplored Vaults may be far off from Fallout 76’s West Virginia Wasteland, but this hasn’t stopped Fallout 76 from exploring distant locations before, especially locations featured in other games in the franchise set after Fallout 76. With Fallout 76’s Expeditions activity, players can fly to distant settlements via Vertibird, enabling players to visit the Pitt which would later be the location of The Pitt DLC from Fallout 3. Similarly, these unexplored Vaults from the Fallout show could make for the perfect locations for new Expeditions in Fallout 76, considering that the Pitt Expedition has already laid the groundwork for Fallout 76 to continue to explore distant locales throughout the franchise.
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