The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has today ruled that ZeniMax, the parent company of Bethesda, must offer refunds to some players who purchased Fallout 76. Specifically, any Australian players who requested a refund between November 24, 2018 and June 1 of this year are eligible, says the commission. ZeniMax "accepted that their actions were likely to have contravened the Australian Consumer Law (ACL)," according to a press release from the ACCC.
A representative for the commission had the following to say on the matter:
"When a consumer buys a product it comes with automatic consumer guarantees, and retailers must ensure their refunds and returns policies do not misrepresent what the Australian Consumer Law provides. When a consumer has purchased a product that has a fault which amounts to a major failure, the Australian Consumer Law provides them with the right to ask for their choice of either a repair, replacement or refund.”
ZeniMax has also undertaken to amend its customer service scripts and documents so this problem is less likely to occur again. If you live in Australia and requested a refund between those aforementioned dates and were denied one, you're now eligible to follow up on that and get one.
Fallout 76 is Bethesda's 2018 MMO set in the post-apocalyptic universe players have adored for decades. Fallout 76 had a terrible launch, critically speaking, as both players and journalists didn't think much of its many bugs and problems, like broken quests, glitched health bars for boss battles, and connection issues, among many others. Here on OpenCritic, it's recommended by just 6% of critics and has a weak 53 average.
The game has been patched several times since its launch and today has found a niche community of players, particularly among role-players. Bethesda was recently maligned when they introduced Fallout 1st, a new subscription service that gives players private servers, bottomless loot containers, a monthly deposit of in-game currency, and more for $12.99/ month or $100/year. That price makes it more expensive than Xbox Game Pass and PS Now, both of which offer over a hundred games for subscribers to add to their libraries. That, plus the game's infamous reputation, caused an outcry of protests and some jokes aimed at the company when Fallout 1st was revealed in October.
