Fallout 76 is getting Battle Royale and you can try it for free for a week

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Battle Royale is coming to Fallout 76 in a new mode revealed at Bethesda's E3 press event called Nuclear Winter. 52 players will square off against one another in a winner-take-all quest to become the Overseer of Vault 51.

We're not sure why it's 52 players—our best guess is that 51 of them will have to be dead before the game is over and somebody gets hired as Overseer. The new mode will "preserve everything that made Fallout, Fallout," including Scorch Beasts and perk cards (including new perks specifically for the Nuclear Winter mode), and will support four-player squads and CAMP building—in fact, you'll be able to import CAMPS from the standard Fallout 76 mode. There will also be a standalone Overseer progression system, support for four-player squads, various unlockables, and yes, there will be nukes.

The Nuclear Winter mode will be free for all Fallout 76 players. If you're not a Fallout 76 player but think you might like to be, a one-week free trial will get underway tomorrow—and it will include the new battle royale mode.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.