Bethesda Game Studios has a long history of developing some of the most ambitious, open-world sandboxes. Fallout is one such IP that has earned it that reputation, as the developer has continued to expand the franchise into the RPG juggernaut that gamers know today. Fallout 4 is still Bethesda's most recent single-player release, at least until Starfield releases later this year, but a multiplayer Fallout spin-off did come in the way of Fallout 76 in 2018. Sharing similarities in tech and design, there was overlap between Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, while online gameplay and map size were two areas where they differed.
Players who were around for Fallout 4's release will remember just how dense the urban ruins of the Commonwealth were for its time. Even the Xbox One and PS4 consoles, which were still relatively new back then, sometimes struggled to render those areas efficiently. As gamers ventured into what was Bethesda's next-gen Fallout at the time, they discovered dozens of primary and secondary locations in each zone of its post-apocalyptic, open-world map. Fallout 76 carried that seamless experience over into a multiplayer prequel set in Appalachia, and while it wasn't without its flaws at launch, its scale has impressed fans of the series.
Bethesda Gives Fallout 76 Players More Space to Roam
When comparing the map size of Fallout 4 to Fallout 76, it's worth noting that these games are intentionally designed to support very different features. The Commonwealth is meant to be populated by various NPCs with only one player having the ability to really participate in Fallout 4's faction quests. The game was also built from the ground up as Bethesda's newest mainline entry in the Fallout series, so there is plenty of content that was specifically curated to showcase the setting on newer consoles. Fallout 76, on the other hand, was produced on the same generation of systems using updated assets, while giving dozens of players enough space to play in one instance.
The overall area of the Commonwealth is measured to be nearly 4 square miles, not taking into account any verticality or other spaces connected through loading screens. Fallout 76 is estimated to have a world space that exceeds this amount, being around three-to-four times larger than that of Fallout 4 at roughly 16 square miles. The difference in scale seems reasonable when taking gameplay and storyline considerations into account, and it does allow players to set up sizable CAMPs for friends without too many limitations. It's possible that the Commonwealth could shine brighter in the planned next-gen update for Fallout 4, yet Fallout 76 reigns as having the studio's largest open world to date.
Comparing the Open World of Fallout 4 to Fallout 76
None of Bethesda's games thus far have attempted to imitate the actual scale of any real-world locations, though it makes sense that Fallout 76's version of West Virginia runs a bit bigger than the scaled-down city of Boston. Like other Fallout locations and settings, Fallout 76's map is split into multiple regions that are seamlessly connected, although these biomes are much larger than most of the zones explored across the Commonwealth. Appalachia's six regions include the Forest, Ash Heap, Savage Divide, Toxic Valley, the Mire, and Cranberry Bog - all of which include their own respective dangers. Survival is important in Fallout 76, and its emphasis on environmental hazards and creature spawns highlights that focus further.
The closest point of comparison that Fallout 4 has to Fallout 76's regions is its zones. Lexington, Quincy, and coastal areas are fully realized inside the bounds of the Commonwealth, with the radioactive Glowing Sea set far away on the map's southwestern edge. Fallout 4 players are finding new details to this day, showing that these worlds - regardless of size - can keep fans invested years beyond release.
Fallout 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions coming in 2023.
