How Fallout 76 Went From A Disappointment To Delight For A Former Project Lead

It’s not exactly a secret that Fallout 76’s launch was a mess in 2018. Yet, almost seven years later, the online RPG has become a major success for Bethesda and Microsoft–and the source of pride for a former project lead on the game who witnessed first-hand the low lows.

Speaking with PC Gamer, Jeff Gardiner discussed the rollercoaster ride of making and maintaining Fallout 76. “Working on a live-service game comes with a lot of stress, because it just doesn’t go away,” said Gardiner, who was at Bethesda for 15 years before founding Something Wicked Games. In fact, Gardiner faced negative feedback while out and about in his daily life at one point. “I got yelled at in an Apple Store, I’ll never forget,” he said.

Gardiner left Bethesda in 2021, seeing the release of the Wastelanders expansion before exiting the developer. While Fallout 76 became even more popular thanks to the Amazon TV series, Gardiner still saw quite the turnaround for the online RPG. “When you put a game out that’s that maligned, especially on a team that has had such success, the morale is doubly bad internally,” Gardiner said. “So it was my job to make the people who are making the game like the game.”

Ultimately, Gardiner takes pride in Fallout 76, pointing out how “it’s a very unique game.” The difficult journey with the title also has placed the online RPG as one of his top career achievements. “People always ask, ‘What’s your favorite game you’ve worked on?’ Because [Fallout] 76 was such a difficult game and then it turned around to a successful game, it’s actually probably my favorite,” he said.

The game continues to change and evolve. For example, Fallout 76 saw its biggest expansion yet with the Gleaming Depths update in December, which lets you pet your Bombay Cat or German Shepherd dog. Looking ahead, Fallout 76 will let you become a ghoul later this year. Fallout 76 is available on Game Pass.