Fallout 76 ‘Nuclear Winter’ mode shuts down in September [UPDATED]

[UPDATE 09/07/21] Bethesda recently confirmed that the Nuclear Winter mode will be retired alongside the release of the Fallout Worlds Update on September 8th. In their post from August 26th the team noted that “we’re also going to be saying goodbye to Nuclear Winter when the Fallout Worlds Update arrives. All players will receive rewards for their efforts in Nuclear Winter mode, and we’re making Nuclear Winter cosmetic items available in Adventure Mode”. Our original post from June 11th follows:

Amid a free-to-play week, premium ‘Fallout 1st’ trial, and a tease of upcoming content, the Fallout 76 team also announced that the game’s battle royale mode, Nuclear Winter, will be retired later this year in a September update. The battle royale genre has really settled around just a few titles since the Nuclear Winter mode launched in late 2019, making it harder and harder for competing titles to keep lively matches and full lobbies going. And that’s the gist of the reasoning behind Bethesda’s decision.

You can read the full announcement below, including details on perks for any player who touched the Nuclear Winter mode even once. I’ll add a temporary date of September 1st to the Watch List calendar as a reminder until there’s a more concrete deadline.

As a development team, we view Fallout 76 as a game that is continually evolving with each update we release. We love adding new ways for you to enjoy Appalachia, whether through questlines, events, Daily Ops, new features, quality of life improvements, or even gameplay modes.

When we first introduced Nuclear Winter, we were thrilled to watch so many players from our community, as well as many newcomers, dive head first into our take on the ruthless last-player-standing Battle Royale genre. Over time, however, we’ve seen the vast majority of players prefer to explore other aspects of the game. It has also become tougher to put full Nuclear Winter lobbies together without also making sacrifices on match wait times. Additionally, we’ve found it challenging to provide meaningful updates for Nuclear Winter, while also developing and supporting exciting new content for Adventure Mode in recent and upcoming updates. With all of this in mind, we are currently planning to sunset Nuclear Winter Mode in an update coming this September.

We know that some of you are incredibly passionate about Nuclear Winter, and that you may find this news disappointing. Ending support for the mode was a difficult decision, and not one that we made lightly. We’re still working to provide methods of PVP combat for those who enjoy squaring off against other former Vault Dwellers, and a little later this year, we will release details on how we plan to offer players even more ways to play Fallout 76. Additionally, we’re going to compensate everyone who participated in Nuclear Winter, from those who only joined a single match to our most battle-hardened Overseers.

GET PERK COINS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION

Whether you occasionally dabbled in Nuclear Winter, or fought your way through thousands of matches, we want to ensure that your efforts there are properly rewarded. When Nuclear Winter goes offline, we’re going to fill your characters’ pockets with Perk Coins, which can be used to upgrade your Legendary Perks in Adventure Mode. Each character will receive 6 Perk Coins per Overseer Rank they achieved, up to a maximum of 600, as well as 1 Perk Coin for each Overseer Ticket they earned, up to a max of 200. All players who completed at least one Nuclear Winter match will also receive a Nuclear Winter themed Pennant for their C.A.M.P.s.

EARN NUCLEAR WINTER REWARDS IN ADVENTURE MODE

Nuclear Winter offers a wide variety of Overseer rank-up rewards, and we’d like to ensure that you can still unlock them through other means. Some items, like the Vault Boy statues, will remain exclusive to those who earned them. Others, such as Power Armor and weapon paints, outfits, C.A.M.P. objects, and more will be awarded by completing events, including Scorched Earth, Project Paradise, Encryptid, A Colossal Problem, and even Hunt for the Treasure Hunter.

We would like to thank everyone in the community who spent time competing in Nuclear Winter. It will remain online until September, which means you still have plenty of time to squeeze in some more matches. While we have decided to disable this mode, Fallout 76’s future remains very bright. We can’t wait to share more details with you on all of the new features and adventures we’re planning to bring to the game throughout 2021, and for years to come.