[GameSpot] - Bethesda's Todd Howard Called Phil Spencer After The Difficult Fallout 76 Launch

[343iBot]

When Fallout 76 released with its numerous issues, Bethesda's Todd Howard made a phone call to Xbox boss Phil Spencer that ended up helping to turn things around.

During the Bethesda-Microsoft briefing on Thursday, Howard recalled that Spencer was one of the first people he called when things went south with Fallout 76. Spencer directed Howard to some people at Xbox who gave Howard and his team at Bethesda some good advice about how to turn the ship around and get Fallout 76 back on the right path. As has been well-documented, Fallout 76 struggled at launch, both in terms of performance and stability, as well as claims from fans that it was not a true Fallout game because of its online nature and the absence of NPCs.

"When that game launched, the litany of issues we had, we let a lot of people down," Howard said of Fallout 76. "There was very little we didn't screw up, honestly. One of the people that I called was Phil. I said, 'Hey you know there's many things we're dealing with, what advice do you have?' And he put me in touch with some people at Xbox who were able to look at all of the games in the system and what was important and what wasn't important for games that made it for the long-haul."

"And that kind of advice really, really helped us and now, seeing Fallout 76 being one of the most played on Xbox ... we're just incredibly fortunate to be there."

Howard's comment was meant to demonstrate the long and fruitful relationship that Bethesda and Microsoft have enjoyed over the years leading up to the announcement of the acquisition.

The $7.5 billion deal is now complete, and this opens up the door for the two companies to work together more closely than before. During the event, Spencer said a major pillar of the acquisition was to bring Bethesda games to Xbox Game Pass exclusively.

For more on the event, check out the stories below.

• Some Bethesda Games Will Get FPS Boost Support "Soon"
• Bethesda Boss Gives A Small Update On Starfield And Future Games In Microsoft-Bethesda Briefing
• Bethesda And Microsoft Will Reveal More News This Summer, Outside Of E3
• 20 Bethesda Games Coming To Xbox Game Pass On March 12

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