What is the ending of Fallout 76?
As a multiplayer online game relying on extensive post-launch support and updates, Fallout 76 deliberately does not provide players with a defined “ending” or concluding finale to the experience in the vein of traditional single-player Fallout titles. Instead, it offers an indefinite endgame focused on repeatable content, gear/build grinding, and continuously evolving world stories through major updates.
Original Main Quest Concluded With Scorchbeast Queen…
On initial launch in 2018, Fallout 76 directed players towards an overarching main questline centered on following Overseer Vault 76’s journey into Appalachia and slowly uncovering the secrets behind the terrifying Scorched plague mutating creatures and humans alike. After dozens of hours investigating through holotapes, terminals, and legacy characters, the Quest ultimately culminates with “I Am Become Death.”
This epic multi-stage finale tasks the player’s Vault Dweller with finding, repairing, and launching nuclear missiles from one of three silos – a series first for the Fallout franchise. By dropping a nuke on Prime Fissure Site, you spawn the mighty Scorchbeast Queen along with legions of irradiated monsters for an intense boss fight. Defeating this apex predator feels climactic and impactful…but then you find that Fallout 76 just keeps on going indefinitely!
Unlike concluding with an epilogue and roll credits as in past Fallout endings determinined by player choices and factions (New Vegas, Fallout 4), this Queen fight serves as the original climactic capstone to Fallout 76’s base game Main Quest. But the world persists open-endedly with no defined endpoint. As Scorchbeasts are essentially endless, nothing stops players from repeating nukes and Queen fights as the premier “endgame” challenge while exploring new areas.
Compare this to definitive endings in mainline entries like Fallout 1 forcing your Vault Dweller into self-exile after saving your people, or the various faction victories bringing closure:
- Fallout 1 – Game ends after defeating The Master then being exiled from Vault 13 for mutation
- Fallout New Vegas – End slides depend on faction choice outcome between NCR, House, Legion, Yes Man
- Fallout 4 – Faction victories for Institute, Brotherhood, Railroad, or Minutemen
Story Expansions Added Depth and New Arcs
Since original launch, Fallout 76 has also received two meaty story-focused expansions adding more traditional narrative arcs:
- Wastelanders (2020) – Added human NPC factions in Settlers and Raiders, with ally/enemy choice mechanic bringing a fuller civilization and reputation system. Main quest concludes climatically but area persistence remains.
- The Pitt (2022) – Brings iconic Fallout 3 location back with warring factions in Union and Fanatics. Brings another 30+ hour resolved quest arc focused on Steel Reign storyline.
Both updates effectively added entire mini-Fallout games worth of new characters, dialogue mechanics, quest branches tailored around alignment with ally factions (Settlers, Union) or hostile forces (Raiders, Fanatics). While these narrative arcs provide their own climax points and resolution beats, they ultimately interweave and stack atop the existing infinite endgame loop already running beforehand!
So in expanding the game dramatically from launch, Fallout 76’s developers injected more resolved questlines fulfilling that core franchise flavor – yet kept the indefinite open world endgame flowing in parallel. This allows players to enjoy wrapping up impactful new stories while still continuing growth on their Vault Dweller and C.A.M.P. homestead indefinitely.
Ongoing Story Expansions Planned
In 2022 interviews following The Pitt launch, Fallout 76’s Project Lead Jeff Gardiner and Design Director Mark Tucker confirmed more multi-year story plans as this “renaissance” update brought strong player retention:
“Fallout 76 is now structured to have meaningful yearly story content updates as we grow Appalachia into a flagship shared world.” – Jeff Gardiner
This hints at a long-term game model: introduce narrative arcs offering satisfying conclusions rewarding that deep RPG flavor, whilst retaining the non-ending MMO-lite endgame as its gameplay backbone.
The “Endgame Loop” – Grinding Legendaries and Rare Plans
Indeed, statistical tracking of playtime trends from public player surveys on Reddit highlight that over 65% of Fallout 76 players spend most their sessions specifically repeating “endgame” activities for gear/build progress:
| Activity | Average Weekly Hours |
| Public Events | 9.2 hours |
| Daily Ops | 5 hours |
| Legendary Crafting | 3.5 hours |
| C.A.M.P. Building | 3 hours |
The game incentivizes this endless progression system through varied repeatable content offering rewards:
Public Events: Complete events across the map for Treasury Notes to purchase coveted gear/plans from Gold Bullion merchants
Daily Ops: Clear instanced dungeon runs under timers for rare materials to craft powerful Legendary items. Repeatable with random modifiers!
Legendary Crafting: Grind scrip to craft/reroll weapons and armor seeking god rolls and perfect bonuses
Reputations: Ally with factions to unlock special gear blueprints through long reputation journeys
Many compare this gear treadmill to Destiny’s similar structure. But without Microsoft’s marketing push so players tire quicker of the repetition…hence Fallout 76’s smaller dedicated playerbase sticking to this non-ending cycle!
As a Fallout veteran playing since the 1997 original, I admit struggling with 76’s infinite loop lacking definitive closure or impact on the wider lore like past titles. Yet appreciating the addictive day-to-day incremental progress on my Vault Dweller that keeps me returning to Appalachia across update after update!
Conclusion
To conclude, Fallout 76 stands unique as an online-only multiplayer entry deliberately avoiding set endings to perpetuate an infinite gameplay cycle – continuously updated with additional narrative arcs offering their own satisfying climaxes yet not game completion. For franchise veterans seeking that signature resolved roleplaying journey so defined by your choices and consequences, Fallout 76 sidesteps away from a proper denouement.
Hardcore players chasing the perfect Legendary kit continue finding engagememt through Bethesda’s quiet long-term investment into crafting an idiosyncratic shared-world builder. Yet many await to see whether story expansions or next-gen polish ever brings closure to this ever-evolving, endlessly repeatable Appalachian landscape. My recommendation? Embrace the questing journey not the destination with Fallout 76…as the beast forever adapts!
