West Virginians hopeful that Fallout 76 will drive tourism

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Interest in the state spiked after Bethesda's E3 presser.

Fallout 76 is set in a post-apocalyptic West Virginia and, judging from its new E3 trailer, it really leans into the state's colorful landscapes and legends. It looks like a fun setting, but West Virginia isn't exactly a business capital or vacation hotspot, so it doesn't get a lot of screen time. As such, curious Fallout fans have been researching the state in anticipation of Fallout 76's November release, and as Charleston news station WCHS reports, West Virginians hope to see that interest turn into tourism.

As publisher David Sibray told WCHS, views on the tourist site West Virginia Explorer jumped from 2,000 to 30,000 daily after Fallout 76's E3 trailer was released. Employees at Camden Park, one of the many West Virginia icons featured in the game, also said they've been receiving more calls lately, as well as requests for T-shirts. 

"I think we're going to see a lot of people coming here as a result of this," Sibray said, "and I think that attitudes about West Virginia may change." 

Camden Park ride supervisor Shawn Wellman said he likes what he's seen of Fallout 76 so far, and that he and the park's leaders expect to see the park benefit from the publicity. "We've never had this kind of national publicity, so we're waiting to see what happens," he said. Reporter Gil McClanahan said as much on Twitter: 

Fallout 76 is scheduled to release on November 14, 2018. Here's everything we know about it. 

Thanks, VGR.  

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Staff writer, GamesRadar

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.