Attention Appalachian Adventurers,

Fallout 76 celebrated its sixth anniversary just last month!

We’ll say it a bit louder for those in the back… we’ve had six amazing years of Fallout 76, and we’re only just getting started! Before we look ahead towards the megaton of exciting content on the horizon, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on how far this game has come.

Since Fallout 76’s launch, we’ve had more than 50 major patches featuring over 20 milestone updates – and it’s all been free to existing Fallout 76 players!

Besides all this awesome content, I’d like to focus on the specific beats that served to progress the story of our Appalachia. I’ve always viewed these tent pole updates as chapters in Fallout 76’s story and, as such, think of our timeline like this:

Freshly awakened vault dwellers left the cozy confines of Vault 76 to brave the Appalachian wilderness, which beckoned them to explore its rolling hills, dark caves and learn of its former inhabitants long lost to time.

A year and a half later, members of the Foundation and members of the Raiders are drawn to this region from neighboring territories and begin to stake their claims within Appalachia.

In the Fall of 2020, in search of strategically beneficial technologies, the Brotherhood of Steel finished their trek to Appalachia. That story arc concluded with the second part of that chapter, Steel Reign, coming out less than a year later.

Players got the call to help settlements beyond the rolling hills of Appalachia in the Fall of 2022. In Fallout 76’s first off-map expedition mission, Appalachians traveled to The Pitt and, only a year later, Atlantic City.

The Summer of 2024: After several years of consistent nuclear bombardment, the Appalachian map mutated, and a new region, Skyline Valley, opened to the south. Players learned about a mysterious faction of ghouls called the Lost, and came under the employ of the Blue Ridge Caravan Company, running perilous routes along Skyline Drive Valley in Milepost Zero.

This October, we honored Fallout Day with our very first broadcast and celebrated our amazing community with the dedicated folks over at Fallout for Hope – who raised over $15,000 for St. Jude’s Research Hospital during the post-show.

While you’re perusing this letter, dear reader, our fellow “wasteland warriors” are enjoying the final update of 2024 and braving Gleaming Depths.

The gates of Hell have opened - as if the wasteland itself wasn’t bad enough already - offering our seasoned adventurers significantly greater challenges, along with the mightiest rewards and wasteland riches for those who live to tell the tale. Gleaming Depths is a first of its kind experience for any Fallout game; a true raid experience which serves as the introduction of the highly anticipated Four-Star Legendary weapons, armor and power armor.

While traipsing along them country roads, we’ve met over 21 million vault dwellers who bravely emerged from Vault 76.

That must be a huge vault!


Walk with us, dear reader, along this undiscovered road and cast your gaze towards the horizon for a glimpse of what’s coming to Fallout 76 over the next year.

For the first time in any Fallout game players can turn their character into a ghoul. Players who become ghouls will have chosen a life path full of challenges, but one equally ripe with potential. While ghouls suffer no ill effects from radiation exposure… be careful to not turn feral!

Smooth skin is overrated anyhow, don’t you think?

This highly anticipated Ghoul update comes to Appalachia in early 2025.

Then, when Spring fills the air, and the hills of Appalachia are in full bloom, flowers won’t be all that’s blossoming. Brave floriculturists, get out your weed killer and help a fellow green thumb, or they’ll be pushing up daisies. In 2025, we’ll be introducing an exciting new Spring-themed Seasonal Event: The Big Bloom! Jump in to earn a rich bouquet of new event-themed rewards and grow plenty of new wasteland friendships along the way.

And what would a Summer be without grabbing a fishing pole and heading down to your favorite radioactive watering hole? No need to worry about finding out because fishing is coming to the wasteland this Summer and is angling to reel-in our esteemed adventurers, collectors and traveling trawlers alike.

It all starts at a mysterious location where players encounter a fisherman who has decided to set up camp and share their love for fishing to one and all… or so it seems. This strange merchant will sell our players everything they need to catch any of the slimy, scaled swimmers found in all bodies of water across Appalachia. Sharpen those hooks! We’ll be eating well!

Later in the year, Mischief Night is set to make a triumphant return. This seasonal event offers players a fun spectacle full of spooks, scares, and mischief! In fact, Mischief Night encourages mischief. Who would’ve thought!

And what good are all the tricks without some treats? Mischief Night also offers a huge assortment of new rewards for your characters and your C.A.M.P.s. Thank you to everyone who helped test this feature on our public test servers earlier this year.

In addition to the exciting features touched on above, your favorite seasonal events will keep popping at a steady clip, including Fasnacht, Mothman Equinox and Meat Week. So, keep an eye out for more rewards to earn for your characters and C.A.M.P.s!


As we introduce even harder challenges, we will continue to present possible alternate playstyles through the introduction of new Perk Cards for our humans and ghouls alike!

We will also continue to make improvements to the core game—improvements that affect overall performance, visuals and gameplay, not to mention a complete revamp of the workshop C.A.M.P. build menu to make it easier for our builders to navigate. Stay tuned for even more exciting news later in 2025.

Wait, did you think I would disclose everything in this letter? We must leave some room for surprises too! 2025 is shaping up to be a helluva year!

From everyone at Bethesda Games Studios, thank you all for the continued support and enthusiasm. Bethesda Games Studios has the best community in gaming!

Happy Holidays, and enjoy this fun graphic celebrating you, the Vault Dwellers,

Jon Rush
Bill LaCoste

P.S. - Beware of “The Drifter.”