There could be some more Fallout 76 achievements to collect today, as Bethesda is rolling out the fantastic Skyline Valley update on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC, expanding the map for the first time and adding plenty of new content. I recently had a chance to visit Bethesda’s office for Fallout 76: Skyline Valley preview, getting hands-on with the Xbox RPG’s latest content. Here’s what to expect.Skyline Valley comes to Fallout 76 todaySince Fallout 76 launched in 2018, Bethesda has continuously released fresh content updates to keep its players busy — similar to ZeniMax’s The Elder Scrolls Online, which will soon add the Gold Road chapter. Skyline Valley rolls out as Fallout 76’s 52nd content update, and for the very first time, Appalachia’s map will expand, opening up a whole new region in the south.I was fortunate enough to check out Skyline Valley during a recent preview, battling a monstrous hermit crab bus, exploring a haunted mansion, and meeting a wonderful group of Ghouls led by Hugo Stoltz. During our preview, we were given plenty of freedom to explore Skyline Valley, and as is natural when you give a group of players free reign with high-powered characters, many of us made a beeline for the new public event, Dangerous Pastimes, to see what we could do. The event sees you fending off wave after wave of new enemies called the Lost and their huge robot companions as you power up a lightning rod. It’s an explosive event, and one I may have enjoyed a couple of times during my session with the game — chainsawing your way through dozens of electrically charged ghouls is too much fun!With my chaotic side satiated, it was time to see what Skyline Valley’s new story content had to offer. When venturing down to the new southern region you’ll immediately notice that the environment is an electrified mess. A huge storm hangs over the area in hues of red, and it all starts with the mysterious Vault 63, which has been a long-standing — and un-enterable — location in Fallout 76 for some time now. With its door blasted open, we can now see what hides behind those steel barricades — Ghouls! My limited time with the game offered me a chance to check out the first couple of quests from Skyline Valley — which features 12 main missions overall. “The quest content here is about equivalent to the size of Steel Dawn and Steel Reign combined,” Fallout 76 creative director Jonathan Rush told us, so there’s plenty to dive into. Within the depths of Vault 63, I met its Overseer, Hugo Stoltz, a friendly member of the new electrically-charged Ghoul faction, the Lost. It’s worth noting that while Stoltz and his allies don’t mind hanging with you, many of the Lost that you meet in Skyline Valley would sooner kill you than enjoy a minute of fine conversation. We need to work with Stoltz to uncover the mystery behind the Lost, as well as decide whether to help or betray him.Of course, with the new update, we’re also getting Season 17, which is themed around the Pioneer Scouts, so expect to be working through a battle pass crammed full of camping treats, which fit perfectly with Skyline Valley’s environment. Just looking at a few of the goodies on offer this season, we can get our hands on the new Vintage Camper Survival Tent, an Outdoor Movie Projector, new paints for the T-45 and T-51 Power Armor, a Dissection Kit, and a whole lot more. Looking ahead in Fallout 76While our Skyline Valley preview did give us a chance to check out Fallout 76’s latest update, Bethesda also gave us the lowdown on some of the other content coming in the near future. If you haven’t seen our post already, we’ve got a host of details about the playable Ghouls coming to Fallout 76 in 2025, but before then, some other exciting stuff is on the way.Bethesda will be dropping its Milepost Zero update this fall, which will be the “origin of new experiences in Skyline Valley,” Rush told us. We’ll be helping the Blue Ridge Caravan company get their goods-hauling Brahmin to their destinations safely. We’ll be able to team up with other players to protect the caravans from ambushes — “Fun fact: to get the Brahmin to go faster, you can actually slap it, so it starts to run,” Rush said.In return for your help, the Blue Ridge Caravan company will reward you with a customizable Caravan Outpost, which you will be able to make your own similar to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s housing system, allowing you to upgrade and decorate the Outpost. Continuing your journey with Blue Ridge will unlock special vendors that sell you items unique to them, as well as unlock new decor for your Outpost. You’ll also get Brahmin, and Rush says, “You might be able to milk ’em. I’m not sure, but I’m going to say you can milk ’em.” During a Q+A, Rush told us that “with each successful caravan run you can kind of build up like a notoriety to where you earn your own caravan network, which happens on the south of the map. And so this caravan outpost starts out as very bare bones, and as you do more successful caravan runs, you unlock additional parts to it. You unlock additional themes to decorate it, and you unlock specific vendors, specialty vendors, from all around the world that will only show up inside of your outposts. So the incentive to continue to run the caravan routes is you get to unlock all of this and develop all this — and your friends can come in and check out your space.”Elsewhere in the Fall of this year, Fallout 76 will also get the Mischief Night seasonal event to celebrate the spooky season.After having a chance to scratch the surface of today’s update, I can’t wait to start exploring Skyline Valley and Vault 63. The Lost is certainly an interesting new faction — even if they’re not overly friendly — and I’ll enjoy learning more about their Ghoulish ways, and maybe learn something ready for when playable Ghouls arrive next year. On top of that, Skyline Valley appears to be the perfect place to create a campsite-style C.A.M.P, which I’m yet to do!Skyline Valley can be played by all Fallout 76 players of any level, so if you haven’t tried the game yet and fancy taking a look at the new content, you’re free to dive in and have a look around today. Don’t forget that Fallout 76 is available in Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, so subscribers can join at any time.Check out our ever-growing list of upcoming Game Pass games to see all of the exciting experiences on the horizon.
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