An emote advertised to be included in a new Fallout 76 Atomic Shop bundle has been quietly removed by Bethesda. The “Alien Flag Emote,” part of the new “Alien Technology Bundle,” was never delivered to players who bought the bundle, despite it being listed on Fallout 76’s official blog.
Bethesda, particularly within Fallout 76, has a history of misleading marketing promises. When Fallout 76 first launched in November 2018, customers who pre-ordered the $200 Power Armor Edition were promised a high-quality canvas bag in their bundle. To the surprise of many, however, the bag that was shipped in the Power Armor Edition was made of a cheap nylon material, not canvas. Angry customers demanded that Bethesda refund their purchase or ship the bags that they were promised. Bethesda would eventually make it up to the disappointed customers by delivering the advertised canvas bags, but for some, it was too late. Combined with the buggy launch of the game itself, Fallout 76 has been looked down on for most of its existence, though recent game updates and events have turned a lot of fans back on Bethesda’s side.
Just recently, however, the Maryland-based studio would find itself answering to disappointed fans once again. Fallout 76 content creator DTDGamer took to Twitter to announce that Bethesda has quietly removed an emote advertised to launch as part of a new Atomic Shop bundle. The “Alien Flag Emote” was listed on Bethesda’s official Fallout 76 blog as the fifth piece in the “Alien Technology Bundle.” Yet when the bundle was officially released, users noticed the emote was not registered to their accounts. Bethesda has since removed any mention of the emote from the blog it was initially announced on and gave no warning to users who bought the bundle that the emote would be removed.
One Twitter user suggested that players who were deceived by Bethesda should file a support ticket in an attempt to get their Atoms refunded. The price of the bundle was not discounted to compensate for the emote’s removal, meaning that Fallout 76 players are paying more Atoms per component than they would have initially.
Following Fallout 76’s disastrous launch period and slow recovery, the emote situation is something that Bethesda cannot afford to ignore. It is unclear why Bethesda pulled the emote from the bundle’s release, and whether they have plans to remedy the issue for players who bought the bundle expecting an emote. The Fallout 76 community has garnered a lot of power in the game’s direction since its launch in 2018, so it falls to them to make their voices heard yet again. If Bethesda responds in the same manner that led them this far, there is a possibility that the fans will get answers soon.
Fallout 76 is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Sources: DTDGamer/Twitter, Fallout 76
