The Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. is fast approaching; the first opportunity which fans will have to experience the upcoming multiplayer title for themselves. Like every open beta, the event is likely to expose bugs and other problems with Fallout 76 (which is very much the point). As such, Pete Hines does not expect the Fallout 76 beta to go smoothly.
Pete Hines’ Expectations for the Fallout 76 Beta
Pete Hines recently spoke with IGN about Fallout 76, where he addressed the upcoming beta. He states that he believes Bethesda is “on the right course,” as they prepare for the Fallout 76 beta. However, he nonetheless expects things to go wrong. “It’s interesting and exciting,” he says; “but I’m also going into this having done this enough to know this is definitely not going to go perfectly. There’s just no universe… nobody’s ever done it and [has been] like: ‘Oh, zero problems. There’s not a single thing that went wrong.’ We just have to be ready for that. That’s in part what the beta is. Break it Early, Test the Application. It’s a joke, but you need to break it early. We have to find what problems we can find, and then fix it and figure out if the processes that we put in place to fix it hold it. If not, we have to change those and do it again. We need you to break something else.”
Almost no open betas for games go smoothly. It is extremely common for multiplayer betas to suffer from server issues, for example. While developers do a great deal of playtesting, there are many systems, especially where multiplayer is concerned, which are difficult to test without numbers; putting those systems under pressure from the weight of thousands of active players. “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy,” adds Hines; “Ours certainly isn’t going to either, but we are fully aware of what we signed up for, are committed to we’re going to be quick to respond, quick to adapt, and do all the things we think we need to make it a great game.”