But, if you take a look closer at each picture you'll notice a Pip Boy on the arm of each human character - which could mean that, sure, these factions are indeed present in the game but entirely role-played by actual players. Which would be fascinating if true, but we'll have to wait and see how the Enclave, Brotherhood of Steel, Doomsday Prepper, Raiders, Responders, fit into Fallout 76.

Will they be factions created by Bethesda that you can join and communicate with via radio only? Time will tell.


In the case of the Enclave, Bethesda notes and expands on the existing lore with, "Just before the bombs fell, US leadership re-located to a remote Oil Rig off the coast of San Francisco. The Enclave’s mission – to re-establish governmental control of America from key locations, like a secret bunker hidden somewhere deep in Appalachia." Which would mean the actual secret bunker under the Greenbrier hotel, depicted in-game as the Whitespring Resort.

Then there's proposed lore for a new faction the Free States.

On October 23, 2077, the world was plunged into nuclear war. But what if you expected the worst? And planned for it? In Appalachia, a group of doomsday preppers did exactly that. Organized as the Free States, they holed up in their bunkers. And survived. At least, for a while… pic.twitter.com/a85PAvAVCQ

— Fallout (@Fallout) October 20, 2018

And the Responders, which we got to experience in our hands-on as part of the main quest.

All across America, they were the first to run into danger: the brave fire fighters, police officers and medical professionals who selflessly served their communities. After the bombs fell, they formed the Responders. Their mission – help each other… no matter the cost. pic.twitter.com/CxonTtnqTa

— Fallout (@Fallout) October 19, 2018

The Fallout 76 beta kicks-off this week on Xbox One, and will run up until when the game launches in November for PC, Xbox One, and PS4.