The Fallout 76 Wastelanders update is going to be a huge overhaul, adding in real NPCs, new story quests and generally breathing new life into the West Virginia wasteland. The update was already pushed back from late 2019 to April 7th 2020 and unfortunately, due to the coronavirus situation, another delay has come in. However, it is not a long one.

In an update message posted to Twitter today, Bethesda revealed that due to the coronavirus pandemic, changes have been made to the way the studio operates. This in turn has affected the studio's ability to conduct final testing on the new content, meaning the update will now be coming a week later, on April 14th.

Wastelanders Release Update pic.twitter.com/h5Rxn359r4

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) March 26, 2020

For those who are out of the loop on the Wastelanders update, Bethesda showed off quite a bit of it in a gameplay showcase last month. Now, upon leaving Vault 76 for the first time, players will encounter human NPCs who you can talk to. Areas that were once barren will now have characters walking around, rather than endless ghouls, mutants and robots. Dialogue options are also based on your player stats, so there will be negative speech skill checks and special dialogue options based on your character build.

When playing key quests, there will be solo instances where your character will make story choices without random players coming along. Aside from that, the addition of real NPCs means some more civilised locations need to be added to the world, so there will be two new settlements added to the map, both of which will feature in the two main quest lines at the centre of the Wastelanders update.

Aside from all of that, you can expect new weapons, power armour, side quests and more to explore. Currently, the Fallout 76 Wastelanders expansion is due to release on April 14th.

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KitGuru Says: Obviously, Fallout 76 had more than its share of issues at launch and clearly missed the mark for many long-term Fallout fans. However, I am optimistic about the Wastelanders update and look forward to trying it. This latest delay is perfectly understandable given the situation, but hopefully this time next month, we'll instead be discussing positive news around the new content. 

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