Fallout 76's future looks uncertain as project lead steps down

Fallout 76 project lead Jeff Gardiner has left Bethesda Game Studios, and fans wonder where the game will go from here.

Today Bethesda's underdog Fallout live game lost one of its key leaders as Jeff Gardiner departed from the studio. Gardiner had a 15-year run with Bethesda Game Studios and worked on a number of the company's highest profile games including Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, and Fallout 4 before punctuating his time at BGS with with Fallout 76.

"My time at BGS has come to an end. It has been an amazing ride, from producing the Designers on Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim to Lead Producer of Fallout 4, and finally Project Lead of Fallout 76. I will miss my co-workers and want to thank the amazing fans. Stay tuned," Gardiner announced on Twitter.

Fans are curious as to what exactly happened, but Gardiner says he made the decision to leave. The decision may have been affected by Fallout 76's seemingly aimless trajectory of hit-or-miss content and monetization, as well as its list of issues and bugs which most recently include widespread duping causing significant network problems as well as accidentally gifting players $500 of in-game currency that they shouldn't spend.

Some fans hope Fallout 76 will morph into a more coherent MMO-style experience similar to The Elder Scrolls Online. Others want Fallout 76 to remain as it is--a Fallout live game--with adjustments to content and balances.

Whatever the future holds for Fallout 76, Bethesda Game Studios is currently working on two big-budget projects including Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI. It'll be interesting to see if Fallout 76 peters out without Gardiner's help or if the game could come back stronger than ever with Microsoft's live service tutelage.

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