When Fallout 76 first dropped, a few of us legitimately worried for the safety of the Bethesda staff. The backlash on the Fallout game that didn’t feel at all like a Fallout game was stupendous. And most of it entirely justifiable. The game tried to be a lot of things at once, and ended up feeling stretched too thin as a result. A true Jack of all trades, master of none. Everything it tried to do, other games specialized in and delivered better, more wholesome experiences. And so people were quick to leave the game by the wayside, promising never to utter Bethesda’s name again (until Elder Scrolls VI, of course).
But, the game’s actually gotten better since then. The Wastelanders update gave us real, actual NPC’s, new content, and some much-needed quality of life improvements. Seriously, it’s awesome.
Does Fallout 76: Wastelanders have crossplay?
Somehow, Fallout 76 has still not acquired cross-play. Bethesda, like many other developers, points the finger at Sony and their notorious reluctance to open up the crossplay gates and let their gamers mingle with the unwashed masses on Xbox, PC, and others.
This is surprising, considering a few other developers have successfully managed to convince Sony of the merits (or profitability) of crossplay — Fortnite, Paladins, CoD: Modern Warfare and Warzone, Smite and a handful of others — and that Sony has seemingly begun to warm up to the idea with the PS4’s life cycle coming to an end.
But with Bethesda apparently done trying, it doesn’t look like Fallout 76 will ever have cross-platform support. It’s especially unfortunate that 76 never gained crossplay, considering the game’s rocky start and how much its core mechanics would benefit from a wider player base.
So what do we do?
Fallout 76 Crossplay: Alternatives games you can look at
For when the time comes that you’re finally done trying to forget the clown show that was the original Fallout 76 with a play-through of Wastelanders’ new content, we’ve rounded up a few other titles with some similarities to Fallout 76 gameplay that feature some form of cross-platform support.
Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 is another gun-rich, shooter-looter and the second sequel to the zany and unique sci-fi FPS that kicked the franchise off. The game features similar mechanics in the way of a single-player mode but with much better multiplayer options and a significantly less buggy experience. More importantly, Borderlands 3 now has cross-play between the Steam and Epic Games versions, significantly widening up the playerbase. There is, however, no official assertion as to whether cross-play between consoles will ever become a reality.
Destiny 2
Destiny 2 is another sci-fi, online-only multiplayer FPS that despite having been around for a few years, is more popular than ever with many millions of players around the world. The game itself beats out Fallout 76 in almost every way when it comes to gameplay, and is slated for complete, full, no holds barred cross-platform play by early 2021. This is expected to include inter-generational cross-platform play as well between PS5 and Xbox Series XThe developers, Bungie, have already made the game cross-save — meaning, while you can’t play across platforms, you can use the exact same account to hop onto any platform your buddies are on without skipping a beat.
Ark: Survival Evolved
Ark: Survival Evolved is an online survivalcraft game that starts to look a lot like Fallout meets Jurassic Park if you can make it that far without being brutally murdered by roving bands of enemy players. The game is centered around survivors tasked with crafting their way out of the stone age and into the future, while defending whatever little they manage to scrounge together from vicious, saurian wildlife and rival players. Best of all, Ark: Survival Evolved sports cross-play between the Windows Store version and Xbox version, as well as between the iOS and Android ports. Ark truly boasts some of the most exhilarating PvP out there, so if you’re looking to crossplay with anyone on PC or Xbox, you’re in luck!
We hope this helps you reconcile your still-seething fury over the steam pile of buggy and a seemingly unfinished game that was the original Fallout 76. It probably didn’t, of course. Nothing can. But hey, we tried.
