November 29, 2018 Bethesda has apologised for the bag in the Fallout 76 Power Armour Edition, but in a way that seems unlikely to satisfy everyone.
Fallout 76’s deluxe Power Armour 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 was promised to come 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. Complaints about this have been trickling onto the internet over the past week, and today developer-publisher Bethesda acknowledged them. The Fallout Twitter account says “we understand and respect there is disappointment with the bag in the Power Armour Edition. We are sorry.”
The tweet goes on to promise 500 Atoms, Fallout 76’s premium currency, to make it up to you. This isn’t especially generous – in the game’s microtransaction shop, 500 Atoms will cost you $5 USD (£4 GBP), and as this player points out , it won’t get you very much. It’s enough for a particular style of door and some potted plants.
The replies to the tweet are almost universally negative. If you’d like to claim your 500 Atoms, here’s the help page where you can do so.
We understand and respect that there is disappointment with the bag in the Power Armor Edition. We are sorry. Please contact Bethesda Support to provide proof of your CE purchase. They will assist in granting your account 500 Atoms.
Please visit: https://t.co/TJBMjYaph0
— Fallout (@Fallout) November 29, 2018
Paltry as this compensation may seem, it’s worth noting that it’s still a climbdown from Bethesda’s initial response to the furore. Fans had captured screenshots of interactions with Bethesda customer service that suggested no action was planned at all. 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.
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.’
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, and is still captioned “canvas West Tek duffel bag.” And it’s all pretty moot at this point since the Power Armour Edition has long since sold out.
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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