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Is Bethesda Just a Sell Out?

Is Bethesda Just a Sell Out?

Here’s the thing about Fallout 4 . This game isn’t out yet. It’s supposed to be out November 10, about three weeks away, but we haven’t seen any previews for it. It didn’t even appear at any of the major conferences in forms beyond prepared footage. This isn’t exactly bad, but it is a little concerning. Especially given Bethesda’s behavior surrounding it.

The company is pandering to players, perhaps not in the best way. Despite Fallout 4 still being this ephemeral thing, Bethesda is acting as though the game were already out and an established hit. The pushing of its $29.99 season pass, which is for DLC that won’t even start being released until 2016, was only the beginning.

But what’s really concerning is the merchandising manuevers. Bethesda has done flashy before. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim collector’s edition came with a huge statue of a dragon known as Alduin. Fallout: New Vegas had souvenir collectibles from New Vegas. This isn’t a criticism of the incredible Pip Boy collector’s edition of Fallout 4 . It’s of the additional content being sold around it. Fallout 4 isn’t even out yet, but Bethesda has been releasing all sorts of products related to the game.

Especially the week of October 19, which was when Bethesda decided to hold an online store sale . Limited run items have been going up every day, all Fallout 4 related. While some are more acceptable than others, like the 5,000 Xbox One, Fallout -themed controllers that were sold on October 20, others seem more suspicious. Like how would we know we’d want a limited edition copy of The Art of Fallout 4 when we don’t even know if we like the game’s visuals enough to pay for an artbook? It’s a cart-before-the-horse situation. Even though many of these items are generic enough to be general Fallout merchandise, it’s odd to see Bethesda making so much of an effort to try and sell things related to the game, rather than show off the game itself to sell it.

Is Bethesda Just a Sell Out?

Perhaps it also strikes me as odd since Bethesda doesn’t really seem like one of the more capitalistic companies. I mean, we always knew they were making serious bank. Fallout 3 , Fallout New: Vegas , and Skyrim were huge successes. But they also seemed to be willing to focus on more niche properties like The Evil Within and Wolfenstein . They aren’t niche for most, but for Bethesda they were. To suddenly have a year where Bethesda not only is shilling Fallout 4 merchandise weeks before its release, but also hopped on board the season pass promotion train early and released a freemium, Fallout -themed mobile game is concerning.

This could be an overreaction. Bethesda is obviously giving people what they want. It all feels out of character for the company, though. It makes you wonder if priorities have shifted and if everything is okay behind closed doors, with this sudden move to get additional products out there, promote a season pass, and manage a mobile game.

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