Fallout 76 Atlantic City: Capturing the essence of the city with a twist

Fallout 76’s new update, Atlantic City, reimagines the iconic location with a distinct Fallout tone. Continue reading for our full interview with two of the game’s lead developers Jonathan Rush and Joshua Morettoas, as they break down how they were able to bring Atlantic City to the world of Fallout 76.

The Fallout Franchise is one of Bethesda’s most popular and beloved IPs. Other than Elder Scrolls and now Starfield, Fallout remains a staple for the company which has dedicated its time and efforts to creating a major single-player experience.

However, Bethesda has capitalized on the rise of the multiplayer genre, creating experiences for both. First with Elder Scrolls Online and now with Fallout 76. For the latter, the path to success has been a long one, filled with changes, updates, and bug fixes. 

In an exclusive interview, Dexerto was able to sit down with Art Director Jonathan Rush and Senior Quest Designer Joshua Moretto to chat about Fallout 76’s upcoming update, Atlantic City, which is set to release on December 5, 2023.

Fallout 76 changes things up with Atlantic City location

Throughout the interview, we were given exclusive access to the new update to play through while also watching and listening to the devs explain each and every detail of the upcoming content.

From the get-go, it was clear that the Fallout 76 team had created a new location that feels both at home in the larger Fallout universe but also unique and fresh. For Josh Moretto, Atlantic City was a perfect location to expand the Fallout 76 world.

“We wanted to create something that definitely had its own sort of visual look to it. We wanted to give players something that wasn’t just fighting more humans,” Moretto explained. “We tossed around a couple of ideas. So one of the considerations was something that felt unique to New Jersey, unique to Atlantic City.”

“So we were drawing inspiration from the Pine Barrens specifically because the Barrens are home to a lot of bogs. And in these bogs, they’re actually a surprising number of native carnivorous plants.”

Atlantic City DLC still holds true to the heart and soul of Fallout

Playing through the new update, it is clear that the team has put in the work to include as much detail as possible when bringing Atlantic City to life. So much so that even those who have lived and known the location will recognize it, despite the distinct Fallout flavor that has been added to locations, of course.

“You’re going to come in here and see things that look kind of familiar, right? And then folks that have never been to Atlantic City are going to find something that’s new and unique to the Fallout universe.”

“We’re drawing a lot of inspiration off of, you know, real places. So, you know, you’re going to see what we’re coming up on now, which is the showman tier that is based on a real-world location again, which is called Steel Pier. Our level designers actually looked at the old floor plans for the steel pier. And all this is by no means a one-to-one recreation, but we used that as inspiration for the layout.”

Given the details that have been focused on for Atlantic City, it is no surprise that this new content has been in development for the past year. The Bethesda Fallout 76 team is going to extreme measures to ensure this new update is polished and ready for fans to dive right into at launch.

“This is really what we’ve been working on this year, for the most part, at least, the teams directly on this feature. We started early brainstorming on this last year and then really just we got to work early this year and start putting this together. That includes work we’ve done for the next update coming earlier next year.”

A Fallout location filled with water & life, not just destruction

While there is no denying that Atlantic City does feel like a Fallout location, as mentioned above, it does boast some fresh areas. When playing through the new update, something that stood out the most was the Aquarium.

It’s an area that, in some ways, feels like players are diving into the depths of Rapture and entering the world of Bioshock. 

“The aquarium of the Atlantic is really different from a lot of places we’ve done before. It is an underwater aquarium, so you can actually see out into the ocean in places.”

With other citizens of the city traversing through their every day and as much a part of Atlantic City as the scenery and location.

“In Atlantic City, when the game isn’t happening, you’ll actually see civilians and show them and go about their day-to-day lives shopping in the little markets, playing games in the pier, hanging out in the aquarium, all those kinds of things. We’re really excited about that. We’re really excited that we’ll be able to take players to these locations outside of the expeditions and let them explore them, and do quests.”

“It’s something I think our players really wanted after we did the pit. And so we’re giving it to them and we’re going to continue to expand on that.”

Devs put their own personal knowledge of Atlantic City to good use

So how were the Fallout devs about to capture the essence of Atlantic City and keep it in line with what gamers expect from Fallout?

Well, it helps to have a developer like Josh Moretto who is actually from the area. The Senior Quest Designer discusses how his own knowledge of the city helped shape the final product for Fallout 76.

“I’m not from Atlantic City itself, although I have spent time there. So for me, it was more sort of capturing the different sides of Atlantic City. We got the pier, the aquarium, and that’s based on the very specific portion of Atlantic City, which is a big tourist destination.”

“And the beaches and the boardwalk draw people every year, but in another portion of the city which we will see in the other mission for the December update is the casinos and the nightclubs because of course, Atlantic City is a big destination for gambling.”

Fallout 76 Atlantic City is filled with real-life Easter Eggs

The Fallout 76 team has even managed to sneak some real-life Atlantic City lore into the new location, with the potential sighting of the Jersey Devil hinted at, as well as a long-lost WWII-bombed jet that reportedly left two nuclear bombs hidden off the shore of the city.

“New Jersey is home to the Jersey Devil. So while we might not see the Jersey Devil in this update, we might see some things very much taking after the Jersey Devil. We don’t see them on the boardwalk, but go a little deeper into the city, say the casino quarter and you might run into a few lurking along the edges.”

Josh Moretto expanded more on how real history has permeated the Fallout 76 version of Atlantic City.

“There’s other details from the real history of New Jersey, there’s a lot of lore scattered around the place. Notes and terminals, which will let players get deeper into the story of what’s going on in these spaces, and may even make reference to things like a very true story pretty wild sometime after World War 2, a military airplane bomber ditched two nuclear bombs in the ocean off the shore of Atlantic City.” 

“That’s a real thing that happened. I think they were disarmed, but I’m not sure and they’re still out there as far as I know, they’re somewhere on the floor of the ocean off the coast of Atlantic City. There’s just two nukes. Which felt like such a Fallout story.”

With a mix of conventional Fallout themes and new fresh locations, the world that the Fallout 76 team has put together for the new Atlantic City DLC is one that should pique the interest of players.

Fallout 76: Atlantic City is set to release on December 5, 2023.

For all the latest Fallout news and updates, be sure to check out Dexerto’s full coverage here.