Fallout 76’s deluxe Power Armor Edition costs $200 USD, and includes the game in a fancy steelbook, a selection of in-game items, a glow-in-the-dark world map, and two dozen Fallout figurines. The centrepiece is a giant, wearable T-51 Power Armor helmet that comes with a substantial canvas carrying bag. Except that bag isn’t substantial or even made out of canvas.
Instead, it’s a rather cheap-looking nylon bag, and no prospective purchasers knew that would be the case until the collector’s editions actually shipped. Store pages across many major retailers still show the set in stock, and they all show an image of the original bag and specifically note the material is ‘canvas.’
The one place where the detail has been updated is Bethesda’s own gear store, which now says that you’ll get a “nylon carrying bag.” The promotional image still shows the canvas bag, however.
A number of screenshots of interactions with Bethesda customer service suggests no action is planned. LanternCupcake on Twitter screencapped a response from the support team that says “Due to unavailability of materials, we had to switch to a nylon carrying case,” adding that “We hope this doesn’t prevent anyone from enjoying what we feel is one of our best collector’s editions.”
Another email, shared by user krcm0209, is much more succinct. “The bag shown in the media was a prototype and was too expensive to make. We aren’t planning on doing anything about it.” That’s an unusual sort of statement for a customer service rep to make, but mods at r/PCgaming are confident in the email’s veracity.
You can see images of the bag actually included in the package here.
A canvas bag isn’t a terribly expensive thing in the first place, and the ‘prototype’ certainly looks nicer than the even cheaper nylon alternative included with the shipping version. And again, this package is $200 USD. With that much money on the line, plenty of Fallout fans feel hoodwinked since the contents aren’t as advertised.
An unrelated, as-yet-unfiled class-action lawsuit against Bethesda alleges that the company is guilty of deceptive trade practices around Fallout 76, especially given players’ limited ability to get refunds on the game from the Bethesda launcher. Whether that case will actually be filed and brought to court remains to be seen.
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