It's 2026 and Fallout 4's Player Count is Way Up

Over a decade after its initial release back in 2015, Fallout 4 is enjoying a massive player count boost all over again. Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic RPG has always retained a solid player count over the last decade, but the massive success of the TV adaptation’s Season 2 is driving players right back to Fallout 4 for another playthrough.

Fallout 4 remains the last mainline game released in the Fallout franchise. A multiplayer spin-off, Fallout 76, was released in 2018 and continues to receive updates to this day, but the series has fallen victim to Bethesda’s long development times and juggling of multiple franchises at once. Despite its age, Fallout 4 still receives new patches, with the recent Anniversary Edition update causing some controversy among fans. Although not every update is perfect, it’s a sign of the game’s incredible longevity that Bethesda still feels it’s worthwhile to continue officially supporting the game in any manner.

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Fallout 4 Player Count is Way Up Following TV Show’s Season 2 Success

According to Gamesindustry.biz, Fallout 4 has enjoyed a massive spike in popularity since Season 2 of the TV adaptation began in mid-December 2025. In early January, Fallout 4 on Xbox saw a huge peak of over 100,000 players, while daily sales of the game increased massively in the days following Christmas. It’s claimed that Fallout Season 2 “acted as a massive catalyst for player engagement” for games across the entire franchise, and this can be seen in the fact that all Fallout games have been blowing up recently – not just Fallout 4, although the latter has enjoyed a particularly notable popularity boost. This pattern can also be seen in its concurrent player counts on Steam since the premiere of Fallout Season 2. According to SteamDB, prior to December 16, 2025, Fallout 4 regularly reached highs of around 25,000 concurrent players, with lows rarely falling below 17,000. Since, this has risen to highs of almost 47,000 concurrent players, and lows in the realm of 31,000 players.

It should be noted that Fallout 4 has always retained a strong player count on all platforms. While the game has essentially doubled its player count floor and ceiling on Steam, it wasn’t exactly struggling beforehand. This is typical of Bethesda games, which usually have much longer lifespans than most titles. This is often attributed to extremely strong modding support, which Bethesda has always embraced. There are tens of thousands of amazing Fallout 4 mods that players can download and make their game feel entirely fresh, which, with such a great base game, results in a long-lasting RPG. However, there is no doubt that the success of Fallout Season 2 has brought even more players back into the fold, and it remains to be seen how long it will last before numbers return to previous levels.

Fallout 4 is getting review bombed after the Anniversary Edition's release.

Because Bethesda is occupied with the development of The Elder Scrolls 6, it feels as though the developer is in an awkward spot. It is in no position to release Fallout 5 any time soon, which feels like a waste given how the TV adaptation has helped bring the game series even more into the mainstream. However, there are unwavering rumors that Fallout 3 and New Vegas remakes are on the way in the future. While the existence of both titles remains unconfirmed, there’s no doubt they would be extremely popular with fans, and the success of Oblivion Remastered last year makes both feel like distinct possibilities.