Players will soon have the ability to explore the wasteland as a Ghoul in Fallout 76, with an update adding the feature set to release in early 2025.
The highly anticipated addition will be part of a free update and can be unlocked through a new quest line once you hit level 50. Although you definitely lose out in the looks department, with some key factions treating you with additional suspicion thanks to your decrepit appearance, those who choose to become a Ghoul will benefit from a new way to leverage the wasteland’s deadly radiation to your advantage.
Ghouls will also be fully customizable thanks to the ability to alter your look and choose from a broad range of new Ghoul specific perk cards. All things considered, it seems like a pretty substantial departure from the existing character system and a great addition to the game. The news also comes at a very opportune time, with fans still absolutely obsessed with the recent Fallout TV show and its Ghoul protagonist Cooper, portrayed by Walton Goggins, in particular.
I was recently able to spend a few hours playing as a Ghoul and sit down with Fallout 76 lead producer Bill LaCoste at a preview event in London and was curious to find out whether this brilliant timing was all carefully planned. “It’s all somewhat coincidental. We knew that the TV show was going to feature Cooper and we had an idea that Cooper would probably be a popular character because of being Walton Goggins but also just a Ghoul in the show,” he explained.
“But we had plans, even before that, to play as a Ghoul. So I would say that it’s very coincidental that the popularity of Cooper and our ideas to want to play as a goal kind of just happened around the same time. So we were already thinking about wanting to do this and, again, the popularity of Cooper has kind of just made this an amazing feature at this point.”
Outside of the addition of playable Ghouls, Fallout 76 is set to receive the huge Skyline Valley update later this week. It will introduce a series of new quests, features, and expand the game’s map for the first time. You will be able to read a more detailed interview with LaCoste about all things Skyline Valley and the broader state of Fallout 76 when the update goes live on June 12.
If you’re a new player that is eager to get started in the game before Skyline Valley arrives, Fallout 76 is available right now for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in addition to Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility.
