The in-game item, available for $7, has players pushing back against Bethesda for violating rules that were established back when the game first launched.

Here’s a look at what I thought was going to happen this year…and what has actually happened so far.

No Man’s Sky creator Sean Murray knows all too well how quickly a seaworthy vessel of a game can become a sinking ship when expectations fail to meet reality, and he had a few thoughts to share.

Look, I don’t want to make any jokes about Fallout 76. We know it’s history, we know how much of a clusterflop the game was at launch (and for a few months afterwards) but to Bethesda’s credit they’ve definitely been responding to feedback provided by the community. Keeping all that in mind, Bethesda is launching their first DLC for Fallout …

It’s safe to say that Fallout 76 didn’t have the reception that Bethesda was hoping for. The game was nearly universally panned when it launched, not just because it was an often buggy mess, but also because it lacked many of the things that made Fallout games fun to play. Replacing NPC humans characters with actual human beings murdered the sort of storytelling that Fallout is known for, making it a bland experience for most fans of the franchise.

Grand promises! Lofty ambitions! A game that smelt worse than Batman & Robin on launch. Bethesda’s Fallout 76 may just be one of the worst games of all time, and that’s a statement which can be made after some extensive patching was made. But where did it all go wrong for Bethesda? How did a studio which was known for quality and engaging games, create the digital equivalent of being forced to attend a Steve Hofmeyer concert at gunpoint?

Fallout 76, like most online only games, has a store where players can buy things. It’s part of the recurrent spending model that most great big online games use. I’m mostly okay with that, especially when the stuff players can buy is of the cosmetic variety. If people want to spend their real money on things to tailor their in-game avatars to their tastes, all the power to them. Fallout 76 was meant to be one of those games that did that.

At least they’re still trying, I guess.