Fallout 76’s beta is beginning today on Xbox One, and Bethesda has released a whole new batch of screenshots to mark the occasion. These images put an emphasis on the lovely vistas of West Virginia, albeit a slightly more irradiated version than you may have seen in the state’s tourism ads.
To prepare for launch, the company also released a letter to its fans thanking them for their support and cautioning that this is a very different kind of Fallout game. It stressed that the studio cares about these worlds and wants to do right by them, and that as an online and live game the launch of Fallout 76 would be just the beginning. The studio is looking ahead to a long period of bug fixes and other support.
“Given what we’re doing with 76, we know we’re opening everyone up to all new spectacular issues none of us have encountered,” Bethesda wrote. “Some we’re aware of, such as areas where performance needs to improve with lots of players.”
The beta is coming first to Xbox One, with PC and PS4 to follow on October 30. Pre-ordering will grant you access to the beta but you may not get in right away. Instead, Bethesda will be giving out codes for the beta itself as it invites in more players to stress test. For that same reason, the tests themselves will take place in concentrated chunks of a few hours at a time to force players together.
The beta is said to be the the full game and your progress will carry over to the full game. The full game launches on November 14.