Fallout 76 fishing is just the start, with a big building update next in line

Fallout 76 Gone Fission has arrived, and with it comes the arrival of fishing in the Bethesda MMORPG. The new update for the online survival game is pretty substantial, but it's far from everything we can expect. At Summer Game Fest 2025, we spoke to creative director Jon Rush and lead producer Bill LaCoste about what's coming to Fallout 76 seasons for the rest of the year, and there's a promise of a major upgrade to make building easier, alongside a tease for "one of the biggest, most impactful patches" we've ever seen.

The launch of the Fallout 76 fishing update has gone over tremendously smoothly, Rush tells us. "The reception's been great, you know. I think people really just love fishing, and what's better than fishing in the Wasteland with your friends? It's just a lot of fun to do." I'll admit I'm impressed with Bethesda's implementation; rather than sticking in a simple minigame and calling it a day, it framed the survival game's entire season around the activity.

The fishing mechanics are solid, too. It's not quite a new high bar for digital recreations of line-casting - surprisingly, that award might go to Stellar Blade for its clever use of the DualSense's adaptive triggers, although I have a soft spot for Stardew Valley, even though I'm bad at it - but Fallout 76's offering outstrips many of its contenders. "This isn't just fishing," LaCoste concurs, "there are a lot of systems. It's not just, 'Hey here are a couple of spots on the water, there's a dock you fish off of.' Anywhere you can swim, you can fish."

With ample rewards to earn, players are busy constructing their own little fishing villages and taking advantage of effects such as radstorms and thunderstorms to increase their chances of rare catches. "The fact that we've intertwined a number of little systems in there, it gives me an opportunity to engage with the world - and explore, too, which is pretty cool," LaCoste remarks.

Rush says the team had talked about fishing for a long while, and it was something the team at Bethesda was eager to do eventually. "I think the timing felt right now because, over the last year and a half or so, we've really satisfied some of our key demographics in the game." We've had the introduction of the first raid, Gleaming Depths, the addition of build-altering four-star legendaries, and most recently the ability to transform your character into a ghoul. "Lining up the summer, feeling like a fun summer activity - the timing of it all, [we knew that] people might be ready for some more social-focused updates."

"If you're playing some of these other games where it's hours upon hours of raiding or something, and key presses all over the place, eventually you want a break. You want to do something fun with your friends," LaCoste laughs. "I think that's what Fallout 76 and Gone Fission does for people. You've gone through the raids, you've gone through Scorchbeast Queens; let's relax, hang out in the camp for a bit and chat, and do some fishing."

As for what the future of Fallout 76 looks like, the pair are excited, although they're keeping their cards close to their chest for now. "We've had some great updates over the last year or two, and it's only going to get bigger and better," Rush teases. "This holiday season, in December, 76 is going to get one of the biggest, most impactful patches it's ever had. It's going to be huge - but I'm not going to talk about any of that here today.

"What I'll do is I'll backtrack a bit, one season into the fall after Gone Fission, we've got a nice update coming that services our building community, which is pretty much everybody," Rush continues. "It's going to give them more tools to build with, and make it easier to build. It's going to be a fantastic update, I can't wait for players to get and experience it. Gone Fission is great; stay tuned, we're only just getting started."

It sounds like we'll have a very busy world to keep us entertained until the Fallout 5 release date eventually makes an appearance. And yes, we did ask whether we might ever see playable super mutants in Fallout 76, and Rush and LaCoste have certainly heard your requests.

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Interview conducted by Jamie Hore at Summer Game Fest.