Fallout 76 2020 Roadmap Reveals Seasons Are Just The Start

With the Wasterlanders update and Fallout 76 now on Steam, Bethesda has announced the game's roadmap for 2020. The big change coming is the introduction of Fallout 76 Seasons, which seem like a take on the season passes we see in many free-to-play (and some pay-to-play) games. The first season will kick off with the introduction of Update 20, and it will give people a chance to unlock in-game rewards for completing daily and weekly challenges.

Like most battle passes, Fallout 76's Summer Season will be divided into 100 different ranks, each with a reward to earn by reaching that level. In a post to the Fallout blog, Bethesda says that the Summer Season will be free for everyone to level up, but doesn't say if future Seasons will be free. While the Season itself doesn't cost anything, players will be able to buy progression by spending 150 Atoms per rank, though that won't be possible during the first two weeks of each Season.

With the introduction of Seasons comes an overhaul to the challenge system, which Bethesda says "was not quite as engaging as we had hoped." Completing daily and weekly challenges will now up your S.C.O.R.E, in turn unlocking new ranks in your Season progression. Challenges will be changed to tasks that are more straightforward and easy to complete, with an eye for the tasks that players would be completing as they play normally, such as killing a legendary creature or leveling up.

Challenges aren't the only way you'll increase your S.C.O.R.E and rise through the ranks, as you'll also get it by earning XP and completing events. Cosmetic items you unlock in the Season progression will be available for all characters, but consumable items you earn will only be available for one – you'll get to pick the character that receives that item, but Bethesda is clear that you only get to work your way through the Season progression once for your entire account.

You can view some of the rewards for the inaugural season in the blog post linked above, but elsewhere on the Fallout website, Bethesda also shared the roadmap for 2020. We expect this roadmap to become more detailed as time goes on, but summer already seems to be packed with a lot of stuff. In addition to the introduction of Seasons, we'll also see new legendary perks, a new legendary boss event, the addition of a public teams feature, and the return of the Fasnacht event.

In the fall, we'll get the a new Season progression, along with the introduction of daily ops and the Steel Dawn quest line. Winter is probably what will get players the most excited, as it'll mark the return of the Brotherhood of Steel. We'll also see perk loadouts, instanced C.A.M.P. shelters, and repeatable expedition missions.

So, there you have it: Fallout 76 is getting Seasons, along with a roadmap for the rest of 2020 that seems to have a good deal of content. We'll keep an eye out for more details on Update 20, which is when the Summer Season will go live, so stay tuned for that.