Soon after the release of the Fallout TV series on Amazon Prime Video, Fallout 76 surpassed its concurrent player peak numbers on Steam.
According to SteamDB analytics, the game has now reached an all-time peak number of 73,368 as of writing. For comparison, the all-time peak number for the game previously was under 40,000, nearly half of what the current numbers are.
This continues the trend of newfound popularity to the game that was brought about by the success of the Fallout TV show, which not only boosted the popularity of Fallout 76 but also other games in the franchise, such as Fallout 4 sales rising by 7,500%, according to GSD data as reported by GamesIndustry.Biz.
Aside from the Fallout TV show’s influence, the Fallout franchise sale that came with the TV show release was also another huge contributor to the numbers, as more players who are interested in the franchise after watching the show will be able to buy the game for themselves for a cheaper price.
It is also worth noting that aside from Steam numbers, Fallout 76 is also available on the Xbox Game Pass, which means that the actual player numbers for the game may be way higher than initially shown on Steam.
Fallout 76 is an action role-playing game that was developed and published by Bethesda Studios in 2018, while it is the most recent title of the series, the game acts as a prequel to the previous entries in the franchise.
Set in the year 2102, players control a resident of Vault 76 who must venture out into the open world known as “Appalachia” to re-colonize the region and uncover a mysterious plague that has killed off its inhabitants.
During its initial launch, Fallout 76 was heavily criticized by the community and critics alike, with many saying that the game was a monotonous and boring experience, especially when coupled with the absence of interactive NPCs.
Furthermore, the game was also riddled with a large amount of game-breaking bugs that caused the game to not function properly, with new technical issues and exploits seemingly being found on a daily basis.
That being said, the game has received continuous updates that have improved the game over the years. So seeing the game receiving more positive attention and reception now is a welcomed change.