Summer Game Fest almost seemed like a post-apocalyptic party being hosted on the Gone Fission! Fallout 76 fishing stand—with special guests, and with some fishing, of course. Bethesda shared a tweet of photos capturing Xbox execs Sarah Bond and Phil Spencer trying their hands at in-game fishing mechanics. Player reactions? I will say, they were anything but sunshine and radstorms.
Some good vibes. The players were definitely into it; Jessica-Star joked about Matt Booty catching a Yellow Bullhead, while she hovered around hoping Sarah or Phil might bag an Axolotl. Others such as Kate just liked a wholesome photo opportunity. Then from Japan came Kenichi, who equated the fishing booth to a nostalgic goldfish-scooping game at festivals. Cute, right?
Responses then made a hard left right into Salt Lake City. Some players used the opportunity to air their grievances, such as Bob Hall saying that it was wrong for Bethesda to charge Fallout 1st members $30 for an upgraded fishing rod. “The Atomic Angler cash buy is just wrong,” he stakes his claim. Others, like brutal_heat, just flat out demanded a New Vegas remaster instead, calling Fallout 76 “dogshit.” snark
Then were those who said, “We just don’t care anymore about Fallout 76.” MichaelJ465 arrived with a vengeance, stating, “I hope Bethesda burns to the ground. Nobody gives a shit about these updates – we want Elder Scrolls 6.” Johannes, claiming to be a former Bethesda employee, said that the game “is just a soulless cash grab from upper management.” Ouch.
Even the presence of Phil Spencer was used to roast the game, with radio_heights remarking on him hitting “Ozempic hard,” soon followed by lowvoltage213 inquiring if he lost weight or if it was just a weird camera angle. Priorities, folks?
Then there were some who just didn’t like the booth at all. Anthony joseph (aka lowvoltage213) came to the defense of the game. “This game is awesome man. I’d try it out rather than saying it’s trash,” he said, while HAKURU_15 added, “We be fissssshin.”
The moral of this story: Fallout 76 still has a devoted (if small) group of players enjoying its updates, while a loud segment of the community has had it and wants Bethesda to focus on… literally anything else. Starfield, TES6, or even a New Vegas remaster are what this is all about for some. Fishing DLC is not a gamechanger.”
Meanwhile, Bethesda just laughs and puts on the booths and drops the updates for those still hooked. Love or hate, Fallout 76 is here for good, but maybe don’t expect anyone to make a party out of the next fishing rod skin.
