Fallout 76 announced that they are inviting a small number of community members for a chance to experience an early version of the anticipated Wastelanders update. This playtesting begins on January 17 and is available for PC gamers. Those selected to try out the new content will also be able to give feedback and report issues experienced in the Private Test Server. Be quick though, as the chance to be considered is only until January 14 at 6:00 p.m. EDT, by which time the opt-in period ends. You can opt-in here.
For those who do manage to get invitations, below are some of the things to keep in mind:
- The Wastelanders Private Test Server is available exclusively for the PC.
- Invited players are going to be required to complete a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in the launcher before PTS installation.
- This means they're not going to be allowed to share, stream, record, or discuss any information from this experience.
- PTS playtesting takes place on an in-development Wastelanders build, and players should expect to encounter issues during gameplay.
- Players are expected to report any bugs they find so that they can be investigated.
- The Private Test Server is reserved for Wastelanders.
- It is separate from the upcoming Public Test Server, which is still under development.
- Any progress made are saved so that players can pick up where they left off every time they access the Wastelanders PTS.
- However, due to the nature of testing it may become necessary to wipe all PTS progress. However players are going to be informed ahead of time of the plan to do this.
- Any progress made on the PTS however are not going to be transferred to the live version of the game when Wastelanders is released.
- In addition to the usual downtime for maintenance, all invited players are going to be able to access the Wastelanders Private Test Server at all times after January 17 until the PTS is brought offline at a later date.
Wastelanders is Fallout 76's third add-on and not only is a massive update, but could change the game completely. This add-on was supposed to be released last year, but was delayed to the first quarter of 2020. According to Bethesda, the delay is due to the fact that they are taking their time to ensure that the update is the best and most polished it can be. Bethesda is also re-evaluating and changing its processes to make sure that high standards are met.
