Bethesda is far from done with Fallout 76, unsurprising given 17 million people have jumped in since the Wastelanders update

pcgamer.com:

We often discuss the impressive turnaround of games like No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk, but Fallout 76 should probably be included in that discussion. While the game launched as an empty wasteland back in 2018, Bethesda has since added a ton of new features to make it feel more like, well, a Fallout game. NPCs, new locations, more fulfilling quests, iconic Fallout factions like the Brotherhood of Steel, and downright weird stuff like alien invasions. It may have suffered a torrid development, but the general consensus is that it's now a Good Videogame.

What's more, Bethesda is far from finished building out its Most Improved virtual son. To celebrate the end of the year, and Fallout 76's fifth anniversary, art director Jon Rush took to the Fallout website to reflect upon the game's successes, and outline the developer's vision for 2024.

«We've come a long way since we first stepped out of the Vault into the wasteland of Appalachia,» Rush begins. «Together, 17 million players have experienced new Fallout tales and characters with Wastelanders.» Wastelanders was Fallout 76's game-changing 2020 update that reintroduced chatty NPCs back into Appalachia. Rush then goes on to note the various addons Fallout 76 has received, culminating in Boardwalk Paradise, the first part of its most recent update, Atlantic City.

Rush says the second part of the update, America's Playground, will be Bethesda's primary focus going into next year, with a planned release in the Spring. "[It] features an additional mission in which players will confront the legendary Jersey Devil, along with new story driven quests, more areas to explore, and of course plenty of rewards."

Following this, Bethesda plans to expand the game's map southwards,