For a short period, Bethesda is making its online RPG Fallout 76 free on all platforms, just in time for the final Season 2 episodes of the Fallout television series on Prime Video.
While Bethesda’s announcement of this promotion doesn’t explicitly mention the show, the free trial started shortly after the penultimate episode of Season 2 streamed and lasts until after the season finale releases next week. Bethesda’s X post encourages players to “say hello to the Ghoul,” referring to Walton Goggins’s character from the show, now an NPC in Fallout 76.
Download and play #Fallout76 for free on all platforms until February 4!
☢️Say hello to the Ghoul and take on some bounties
🎣Go fishing in watering holes around Appalachia
🏠Build a C.A.M.P. in the irradiated deserts of Ohio pic.twitter.com/Qq9pLT5qfm— Bethesda (@bethesda) January 28, 2026
The Ghoul arrived in the game through the Burning Springs update in December, which added an entire region, new wildlife, and bounty missions. A patch for Fallout 76 also went live this month, addressing some problematic technical bugs.
This isn’t the first time that Bethesda has allowed people to try out Fallout 76 for free–the game, along with the Fallout 1st paid service, was available for free last month for a week, but only on PlayStation and Xbox. Conversely, the current free trial is for both consoles and PC.
Fallout 76 had a troubled launch in 2018, marred by technical issues and receiving a mixed reception from critics and players alike. That didn’t stop Bethesda from adding to the online-focused game, however, and the Fallout Prime Video show in particular helped to boost player-counts. With public interest in the Fallout universe at a high, now’s as good a time as any for this trial.
