Fallout 76 Beta Details Announced For The End of October

Vault dwellers around the industry are rejoicing as Bethesda has announced details for the upcoming Fallout 76 B.E.T.A, and we’re not going to have to wait long to explore a war-torn West Virginia.

The B.E.T.A, or “Break-It Early Test Application,” wil be available on October 30th for PC and PlayStation 4 owners, while Xbox One players will get started one week earlier on October 23rd.

The official Bethesda announcement mentions that this will not be a 24/7 beta test, but instead the servers will “be online during targeted timeframes so we can get as many people as possible playing at the same time.” The reasoning for this, the site continues, is because “that’s the best way to put all our systems to the test and see how they respond.”

Bethesda expects the B.E.T.A to be live for four to eight hours a day during the testing period, and after each session the development team will “fix what we need to fix and do it again and again from the start of B.E.T.A. until a few days before launch.” Specific go-live times will be announced on Bethesda’s social media sites with “as much heads up as possible” during the testing period.

There are two interesting things to note here: one, in Fallout’s lore October 23, 2077 is when the bombs fell, so good job on that Bethesda. Second, this B.E.T.A comes right smack dab in the midst of Red Dead Redemption 2’s launch, which is a brave move. It’s not the same as launching the game head-to-head with Rockstar’s upcoming titan, but a few Tweets were quick to realize participation in the B.E.T.A will take time from RDR2, and for some that might be a tall order:

I'm honestly shocked Bethesda is doing the Fallout 76 BETA right when Red Dead Redemption 2 comes out

— JuiceHead (@JuiceHead3311) September 27, 2018

Fallout 76 BETA on October 23rd? Nah son, more like play Red Dead Redemption 2 till I pass out

— Sam Kinik (@atomickinik) September 27, 2018

No matter which side of the impending Fallout 76 vs Red Dead Redemption 2 battle you fall under, one thing is for sure: the busy gaming season is upon us.

For more on Fallout, check out out piece on how Fallout 76’s online focus may heavily affect players in the state that hosts the game, West Virginia.