Highlights
- Fallout 76's post-launch updates have improved the game, with new Expeditions taking players to brand-new locations like Atlantic City.
- Atlantic City is a vibrant and relatively untouched location in the Fallout franchise, with casinos, gambling, and eccentric characters reminiscent of Fallout: New Vegas.
- The upcoming DLC will feature three dominant factions in Atlantic City: the Municipal Government, The Family (an organized crime syndicate), and The Showmen (an entertainers' guild), each with their own influence over the city.
Despite once being the center of a lot of controversy, the post-launch life of Fallout 76 has polished the game to quite a respectable level. As a live-service multiplayer title, the release has received a lot of content updates since 2018, which even take players to brand-new locations away from the base map of Appalachia.
These new experiences in Fallout 76 are called Expeditions, with The Pitt kicking off this brand of gameplay in 2022. Fans have been eagerly waiting for Fallout 76's next Expedition experience ever since, with it recently being announced that Atlantic City will be the next expansion for the title. Details about Atlantic City are now coming thick and fast, with it being confirmed that three distinct factions have a tight grip over the pleasure city.
Fallout 76: Atlantic City - The City's Three Factions
The promotional material for Fallout 76's Atlantic City Expedition paints the location as a surprisingly vibrant one for the franchise, being relatively untouched throughout the IP's nuclear war. As a place of leisure and entertainment, the city was not a primary target for any devastation, leading it to flourish more easily post-war than the locations that the franchise usually explores. With vibrant casinos, rife gambling, and neon strips, many fans will note the similarities between Atlantic City and Fallout: New Vegas, with Atlantic City boasting similar eccentric characters to the 2010 title.
From what is known about the Expedition, it is clear that the three dominant factions that rule Atlantic City will play a huge role in the upcoming DLC. The Municipal Government is by far the most organized and official of these three groups, controlling the day-to-day operations of the city. Importantly, the Municipal Government has full control over the electricity, water, and food of Atlantic City, giving it a lot of leverage over the city's population and the other reigning factions.
The next faction in Fallout 76's Atlantic City Expedition is The Family, an organized crime syndicate that runs a wide range of illicit rackets across the city. In-keeping with Fallout's penchant for 1950s iconography, it is likely that The Family will share a lot of similarities with the real-world Mafia families that populated the United States' East Coast during this time. With gambling and vice being prolific throughout Atlantic City, The Family has risen through the area's power structure via extortion and loansharking, having a deluge of connections and an iron grip over the city.
The third and final main faction in Fallout 76's Atlantic City are known as The Showmen, who are described as "a chaotic guild of entertainers." It seems as if The Showmen have pulled their ranks from a wide range of entertainment avenues, bound by a shared desire to put on grand spectacles across Atlantic City without outside interference. It is more than likely that The Showmen have banded together to prevent influence from the Municipal Government and The Family, making them an unlikely third group that exercises control over the city.
These three factions come together to make a fascinating mix of dominant forces behind the bright lights of Atlantic City. It is unclear whether players will be able to form alliances with any of these factions or if they are all antagonistic, but they will definitely play a huge role throughout all the content that the upcoming Fallout 76 Expedition has to offer.
Fallout 76 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
